Nanite Free
by xXSpiritKeeperXx
Summary: You know something's wrong when you have the same dream as someone else, the dream becomes a very shocking reality, you have to partner up with EVOs without nanites and trek across what looks like Japan but isn't. Sinnoh is definitely AU. Rated T to be safe. [[DISCONTINUED]]
1. Dreams

I had this weird dream…

… Spheres that were red on the top and white on the bottom…

… EVOs. Strange, powerful EVOs…

… I did a mental check. I hadn't been gassed…

… So, I wondered…

… What are you dreaming, Rex?

* * *

><p>Nanite Free<p>

* * *

><p>GR refs – Lightning EVO fight (ep Exposed) Beverly Holiday (ep A Family Holiday)<p>

Pkmn ref – Disintegration (movie The Rise of Darkrai)

* * *

><p>Chapter 1: Dreams<p>

* * *

><p>Rex's view<p>

I was asleep in Providence base. No biggie, just your usual day bashing and curing EVOs, hour-long checkups and never-ending pranks from your talking EVO monkey sidekick really drain your energy.

...And make you forget any dreams you had.

I woke up to said monkey poking my back. "Hey, chief. Get up."

I buried my head under my pillow. "Go away, Bobo..."

I heard him shift his weight. "What if I told you it was ten minutes into a debriefing?"

Debriefing! I leapt out of bed, throwing him onto the floor ("Sorry!"), whipped on my jacket and staggered into the hallways. My Rex Ride build was the fastest – and, for other people, safest with my drunken stagger – way to go. I probably got there in under thirty seconds that way – only to be met by Six, who was glaring, as usual, because I was late, as usual. He didn't say anything, just motioned for me to sit down. I slunk into my seat.

"... and numerous EVOs have been found and neutralised here, here and here. Three agents from teams Epsilon and Gamma respectively were lost to this threat here..." I zoned out as Captain Calan drawled in his southern accent about the most recent EVO outbreaks and Providence's agents' status.

"Rex." White's voice rang out through the room and I sat bolt upright. "What did I just say?"

I drew a blank and managed a small guilty snicker.

White rolled his eyes. "An outbreak of two Level One EVOs has occurred in Tokyo. Your job is to neutralise it. White out." The screen went blank. _Heh, whiteout_, I thought, and ran to the hangar.

* * *

><p>The jump jet hung suspended in the air two kilometres above Tokyo. It was easy to see where the EVOs were – a blazing fire covered half a city block. I could only pray that everyone was safe. Six stood beside me, surveying the scene. He unsheathed a magna blade, stood on his hoverboard and quipped "Come on, kid." I lowered my goggles over my eyes and followed him into very thin air.<p>

The freefall was exhilarating as I reached terminal velocity. I couldn't stop a "Woo-hoo!", but it was whipped away by the rushing air. I turned my head – Six was beside me, low to the board, which was jetting its own tiny spurts of air to stabilise itself. I flipped a couple of somersaults, just for the extra rush.

Half a minute later I generated the Boogie pack to stabilise _my_ flight for the last half a kilometre – but I didn't slow down. The ground rushed up _so fast_; I pulled out – building! Dodge! Another building! Dodge again! I pulled up a second time and shot vertically until I stopped moving, then turned around and flew straight to the scene.

The EVOs gave me a sense of familiarity. I didn't know why. One was a yeti that was taller than Six, yellow with black stripes. It had two thin, black tails coming out its back, and shot electricity everywhere. The other one was insane. It was like a really, really big weasel as tall as me, except it had _fire_ shooting from its shoulder blades, like some flaming collar.

The instant I was about to land, Holiday proclaimed over my earpiece "Rex! These EVOs are giving off a different biometrics reading to normal EVOs. Be careful, I don't know what-"

"Relax, Doc!" I interrupted. "I must've fought EVOs a million times by now!" I dropped into the brawl.

The first one to see me was the weasel, and it dashed over, collar flaring up. Almost on instinct the Boogie Pack shrank away to be replaced by those great big cubes of metal I love. Swinging a punch with my Smack Hands, I caught the EVO in the stomach and it bounced into a car from the force of its momentum plus my attack. The car crumpled like paper.

From the corner of my eye, I saw six fending off the yellow yeti with a little trouble – his magnetic swords were pulling electricity towards him, and he had to keep jumping around. To add to that, yellow was swinging punches crackling with a halo of lightning. I needed to give Six a diversion.

I rushed the yeti, shouting "Hey, yellow!" It turned around to be met with a fist to the face. The diversion turned sour as I felt the first spark and tried to pull away, but it sent a bolt of lightning through the metal hand and into my body before I could move. Not that I hadn't been electrocuted before, but never like this. I heard a terrible scream and realised later... it was mine.

Suddenly, the EVO roared and the pain abruptly stopped. I was barely aware of one of Six's katanas wedged into yellow's arm, a bit more aware of him dragging me by the armpits to a side street. He lay me down on the pavement and called Holiday over the comlink.

I shifted my bleary vision to the EVOs. The weasel was up again and they were fighting again like nothing had happened, but yellow had pulled the sword out of its arm and now had a bleeding gash which was slowly turning its arm crimson. Over it all, there was the sound of gunfire, the crackling of electricity, the acrid smell of burning hair and the meaningless chatter of my two parent figures over the com.

When I shifted my vision back to the main street, I saw what no-one else did.

The fire and lightning flared suddenly and all the Providence agents ducked for cover. Someone screamed. Yellow and Weasel froze, then disintegrated into pinkish purple flecks that floated up and vanished. Six had ducked down. I stared at the spot. Someone issued the order to search for the EVOs.

I couldn't explain it, but I knew the search would be useless.

* * *

><p>Holiday forced yet another plastic cup of some Powerade kind of drink into my hand, telling me to have it. I glanced at the seven other cups on the examination table. Bobo snickered. I downed the drink, crushed the cup in my hand and threw it at his head. His fez got knocked off. "Why do I even need all these drinks?" I asked. "My nanites'll probably take care of any damage."<p>

Holiday turned to face me. "If the electricity burst shorted out your nanites, you'll still need some sort of energy to help your body fix itself."

Bobo smirked, yawned and slunk out of the room, muttering something about pizza. Holiday looked back to her clipboard. There was an awkward silence for a few minutes. I finally broke it 'cuz I'd suddenly remembered my dream from the night before. "Hey Doc, do you believe in seeing the future and psychics and all that stuff?"

She looked confused. "Where did that come from?"

I thought about the EVOs I'd fought earlier that day and shrugged. "Just wondering."

She put the clipboard onto the table. "Science and logic disproves it, but there have been many people to demonstrate – to certain extents – power over their bodies, to set things on fire and move objects with their minds. I'm pretty neutral on that subject, so I don't know."

I nodded and kicked the floor half-heartedly. "What about déjà vu?"

She smiled. "Definitely happened to me before."

I scratched my chin. "Well what if I told you I dreamt about yellow and weasel EVOs and more, except they were covered in plants and water and ice and rock and they were beating the crap out of each other with faceless people standing on the side telling them what to do?"

She visibly paled. "I... I don't know, Rex. It was probably just that... a dream." It was an uncertain comment. She'd said she'd had déjà vu before, so why was she freaking out? Holiday abruptly shoved another cup of drink into my hand and shooed me out of the lab. Bobo was waiting outside with Beverly. She smiled and waved hi. Bev was Doc's little sister on relative terms – she was my age.

"How'd it go, chief?"

I looked down at Bobo. "It went okay... but it's none of your business." I strode past the two of them and walked to my room. Neither Bobo or Beverly followed me.

I barely looked at the tiny digital clock's 9:34pm inset in the wall before I fell asleep.

* * *

><p>… That dream again…<p>

… Is it haunting me? ...

… A red bug EVO…

… A blue turtle EVO…

… A strange, green-and-white humanoid EVO…

… A mountain…

… What is this?

* * *

><p><strong>TOKYO. THE LAND OF POKEMON. LOL<strong>

**I'm finally beginning to update these first three chapters! xD (You'll see why if you look at the next two) Just so this chapter makes more sense and more action is added, really. At 1507 words, It's a bit short (493 words short of my set minimum goshdarnit LOL!) but I couldn't think of anything else to flesh it out with x_x Removed the SkS (The Spiritkeeper's Secret, see my profile) ref in the 'EVO fight' To anyone who remembers them, they were actually Liko and another character who'll be introduced halfway through the story. Not telling who. ^_^ Expect the next chapter rewrite in one week (hopefully)!**

**LAST THING – thanks for sticking with me while I'm fixing and editing, guys. I promise after this I'll start writing the actual plotted story XD**

**~SK**


	2. Synchronized

Chapter 2: Synchronized

Dr Holiday's View

…

…

… Small spheres…

… Some kind of technology…

… EVOs that were not EVOs…

… What is going on?

I woke with a start.

My heart was racing. It couldn't have been called a nightmare...

I reflected on the dream. Monstrous EVOs, a blue and silver one and a light pink and silver one. Other EVOs, surrounded by lightning, fire, water, plants, and ice.

Oh, God.

I looked at the little digital clock next to my bed. 6:00 AM. _Might as well get up_, I thought. I swung out of bed and started to get dressed.

Blackouts, fires. Lots. Concentrated in one small part of Tokyo. I couldn't understand. This might be the work of EVOs, but it still looked suspicious.

"Hey, Doc!"

I turned. Rex was running up to me. I sighed. "What now, Rex?"

"I had this really weird dream last night, there were little spheres, red on the top and white on the bottom, getting smaller and growing bigger and then shrinking again, and there were EVOs… the EVOs! They shot fire and water and lightning except they looked… _organised_. Their bodies. They weren't weird and lumpy like EVOs normally are, they had a sense of… I don't know… they looked like real _animals_."

I paled. He had described the exact same dream that I had had.

"I… I don't know, Rex. It was probably… just that, a… a dream." I turned away, shaken.

Why were those EVOs like that? What were those spheres? And why had we had the same dream?

I couldn't ponder more because a live video feed came from White.

"There has been an outbreak of EVOs in the middle of Tokyo. Your job is to find out why this happened and neutralize it." Very short.

Looking through the little camera in Rex's goggles, I saw the EVOs. "Rex… be careful. You don't know what –"

"Yeah, yeah, relax! I've done this like a million times!"

Rex jumped in, brandishing his Smack Hands. "Hey, yellow!" Rex punched it in the face – chin to be exact – and it went flying. Whipping around, he cured the flaming EVO before either could react, and a girl about his age stood there. That was bad.

There was still the yellow one, though. "Rex!"

He didn't turn around in time. I bit my lip as he was knocked to the ground, but then snorted as Rex, teenager as he was, swore and punched the EVO's face again. He cured it, and another girl stood there. Before Rex could say anything, both girls fled into a nearby alleyway.

It was strange, but not as strange as the suddenly high heat and electricity levels coming from the still-human ex-EVOs that had just fled.

As I lay in bed that night, I pondered, again, why I had had the same dream as Rex.

_You did not have the same dream as him_

I sat bolt upright. "Who's there?" I whispered.

_There is no-one here_

"Then… why am I hearing things?"

No reply.

"Hello?"

_He had the same dream as you_

"What's that supposed to mean?"

_He has the Synchronize Ability_

"_What_?" I was dumbfounded.

_Just like me_

"Who… _what_… are you? Are you an EVO?"

_You might think I am an EVO, but I am not_

I blinked twice.

_I will be with_

"Who?" I asked, but as I did so I felt the faintest light-headedness.

_Six_

"…Did you read my mind?"

_Yes_

Said mind felt muddled. "So… this is-"

_Telepathy, yes_

I frowned and blinked.

_You will see me soon enough_

"How?"

_Look for Dawn in Sandgem_

"Look for dawn in the sand gem…? _What_?"

_Sleep well… Rebecca Holiday_

I couldn't say any more because I fell back onto my pillow in a deep, dreamless sleep.

**Edited! She's called Rebecca instead of Amy now! :D**


	3. Anonymous

**I will put replies to reviews up the top, so there! XD**

**Aleron's Sword:** Electivire, Typhlosion and Scizor are correct. Squirtle is not. Good try! #De-dede-dum-duh-duhduh-duhduh-dahh# (ALERON obtained the BRAGGING RIGHTS!)

**IF YOU READ, PLEASE REVIEW, NO MATTER WHAT YOU THINK. THIS IS MY FIRST FIC.**

(Sorry for not updating for ages D:) On with the show!

[~]

I was polishing my katanas.

There were no jobs, tasks, missions. Rex hadn't gone on a breakout.

In other words, it was boring.

_So_

My finger slipped in shock and I cut it on my blade. I swore and pinched the finger between two others to staunch the bleeding.

_You must be Six_

I looked around. I was the only one in the room. "Who's there?" I growled.

_No-one_

I pulled the small intercom piece out of my ear.

_That won't help_

I put the intercom back into my ear. "Then why am I hearing things?"

_That's the same thing_

Before I could reply, I felt a fleeting light-headedness.

_Dr Holiday said_

"What did she say? How did you contact her? Who are you?" Almost in reply, I heard her voice ringing through my head, like a memory. "_Then... why am I hearing things?_"

_This is telepathy_

I started.

_So I can contact anyone_

I folded my katana back up warily.

_And the light-headedness you are probably feeling is me reading your mind_

_That sounds cheesy_, I thought, feeling the said light-headedness again.

_I guess it does sound cheesy_

"Why are you here?" I demanded.

_To give you directions_

"...Directions?"

_Look for Dusk in Sandgem_

"Dusk?"

_Dusk, yes, Dusk_

I blinked.

_I will meet you soon_

"How is that directions...?"

A bird's eye view of Hokkaido, Japan, filled my head.

_This is Sinnoh_

"No, that's Japan."

_This is Sinnoh_

"Why are you calling-"

_This world and yours are linked_

"What, that's your world?"

_Yes_

_I must be dreaming..._ I thought. No mind reading.

_Dawn and Dusk will be your guides_

I blinked. What about dawn and dusk? How could times of day be guides…? Star-gazing to tell your position? The position of the sun? ...I thought not, somehow.

_Goodbye... Arceus be with you_

"WHAT the HELL is ARCEUS?" I yelled in frustration.

I hit the wall, sighed, and massaged my forehead. "Damn... Who was that? Dusk? Dawn? Sinnoh? Sandgem? Arceus? ...Man, stop talking to yourself." I muttered. I couldn't quite place it, but the last four crazy words rang a very small bell somewhere in my head.

The names were total nonsense. So...

...Why did it ring a bell?

[~]

"Holiday!"

She turned to glare. "What?"

"Has anyone... contacted you recently?"

She paused and looked away before replying, "...No..." I could tell that she had lied.

I didn't pause. "Well, they... contacted me, too. Do you know what a Sandgem is?" That got a reaction I half-expected – shock.

"Ah... no. Not a clue." She turned away. "Except... Do you get a feeling that would make sense... somehow?"

I looked at her. "Yes. I do."

She tucked her hair behind her ear and laughed half-heartedly before replying, "Weeeeell... in any case, I don't think Google would have the answers."

The hint of a smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. "Probably not."

[~]

**U R SO WRONG PPL LOLOLOL**

**Total giveaway. And subtle Holix! :D Six may have been a little OOC, but meh. I WANTED IT LIEK THAT. (I also wanted to say liek.) Dusk is an OC designed specifically for this story.**

**xXSpiritKeeperXx, signing off~**


	4. On Waking

Chapter 4: On Waking

Rex's view

...I was flying...

...flying...

...over Japan?...

...I was falling...

...falling...

...fall-

My eyes flew open. My heart was pounding, and I was covered in a cold sweat. I slowed my breathing. _Just a dream._ "Bobo?" I called quietly. There was no reply. _Ah, probably gone on a taco break_, I thought. I swung out of bed.

And fell off the top bunk of a bunk bed.

"WHAT THE ****?" I swore, massaging my leg. And that was when I took a closer look at my surroundings.

There was a small bedside table on the right of the bunk, which was tucked into the corner of the room. A small desk faced the end of the bed on the adjacent wall. A door stood next to this desk. And a window facing a small garden had sunlight shining through.

This was _not_ my Providence room.

"It's just a dream, it's just a dream... An all-too-realistic dream..." I chanted to myself, squeezing my eyes shut. When I opened them, the room was still there. I panicked. I climbed up the bunk bed, jumped off, leapt on the desk, leapt off the desk, and ran around in circles before flinging myself onto the bottom bunk and banging my head on the pillow.

After I had calmed down, I took deep breaths and saw a small rucksack sitting next to the now squashed pillow. I opened it and gasped.

Inside, there were a few packets of instant soup, a bar of soap, an empty water bottle and a small first-aid kit. This did not surprise me much.

A square watch that was blue and emitting regular blips, some purple and yellow spray-bottles and a few cans of what was labelled "Poffins" did.

Not to mention the multitude of small, red-and-white spheres.

I picked one up. It was smooth metal, and about the size of a walnut. The black stripe dividing the two colours led around to a double-ringed small, white button. I pressed it, and the whole sphere grew to the size of an orange. I pressed it again, and it shrunk. I gasped again. The words I'd told Dr Holiday came to mind. '..._There were little spheres, red on the top and white on the bottom, getting smaller and growing bigger and then shrinking again...'_ My breathing quickened. I pressed the 'inner' button... and the sphere hinged open by a spring. Inside, a dark blue metal frame held down some glassy material. A few small orange dots marked each corner of these glassy areas. A small green spot marked the centre of the semi-sphere. It was the same in the top half. I pressed a finger to the glass and activated my nanites...

A red glow surrounded me and I dissolved - there was no other word for it. I felt like I was rushing towards the open sphere, and then I sort of... got sleepy...

Getting stuck was _not_ an option.

I fought, I bashed, I kicked, and then – I was _out_. Just like that. The red glow subsided, and I closed the sphere and shrunk it. "_That_... is _not_... happening... _again_." I panted. Cautiously exploring my bag further, I was careful not to activate my nanites.

A pocket with an iron-on label "Key Items" had one sphere inside, along with a note. "Throw me" was written on it. I figured that throwing the note wouldn't do much. So I threw the sphere.

A red glow filled the room, and a small, one-person, pop-up tent (in its packaging) materialized out of the glow; then the glow subsided. Wow! I threw the sphere again and the tent disappeared. I supposed that was what had happened to me. Shrinking the sphere, I put it away and rooted around some more.

I found a small booklet. It had a heading: _A Beginning Trainer's Guide_. I opened it and started to read.

A Beginning Trainer's Guide

1: Introduction

2: Pokémon – What are they?

3: Trainers – What do they do?

4: Pokémon Care – How to look after your companions

5: Gyms – Information on all eight

6: Contests – Poffin guide and accessory list

7: Sinnoh – Maps, Town list and Hotspots

1: Introduction

Hello! No doubt if you are reading this booklet you are a beginning Pokémon Trainer, or are planning on travelling with or working with these incredible creatures. This booklet will show you the basics, the complexities, the simplicities. No doubt you will find out much more on your travels – but hey, this _is_ a beginner's manual! Read on!

I raised my eyebrows, skipped a few chapters, and kept reading.

5: Gyms – Information on All Eight

The goal of any trainer is to defeat the eight Pokémon Gym Leaders and the Elite Four of the Pokémon League. This is the ultimate feat that only a few have managed to pull off. The eight Gyms are scattered around this region, and a trainer must journey around to reach each one, befriending their Pokémon and gaining their trust. The Gyms are as follows:

First Gym – Oreburgh City – Leader Roark – Rock Type – Coal Badge

Second Gym – Eterna City – Leader Gardenia – Grass Type – Forest Badge

Third Gym – Veilstone City – Leader Maylene – Fighting Type – Cobble Badge

Fourth Gym – Pastoria City – Leader Wake – Water Type – Fen Badge

Fifth Gym – Hearthome City – Leader Fantina – Ghost Type – Relic Badge

Sixth Gym – Canalave City – Leader Byron – Steel Type – Mine Badge

Seventh Gym – Snowpoint City – Leader Candice – Ice Type – Icicle Badge

Eighth Gym – Sunnyshore City – Leader Volkner – Electric Type – Beacon Badge

Here I decided the booklet was boring and threw it back into the bag. I shouldered the bag and walked out of the room. Three steps out into the corridor outside, I bumped into a girl of about age fifteen.

"Aaargh!" We screamed. She had shoulder-length black hair pinned up with two triangular clips, and a white beanie. A short black dress with a pink edge was accompanied by pink boots over black tights. A red scarf hung around her neck. A pink version of that blue watch in my bag was around her wrist. "Who-_who_ are _you_?" she stuttered.

"_Me_? Who the heck are _you_? Why did I wake up one morning in a totally different room to the one I was _sleeping in_, fall out of a bunk bed, get sucked into a red and white sphere, read some random booklet about some Pokémon thing, and then bump into someone who I've never even _seen_ before?"

She looked at me in a really freaked-out way. "...You need to come with me."

Dawn's view

"Dawn, I need you to scan for swarms."

"Sure thing!"

It was a fine summer's morning. Well, as fine as it could be in Sinnoh – maybe twenty degrees, at the most. Professor Rowan, always doing his work, told me, once again, to scan for Pokémon swarms. So I walked off to the small part of the lab that contained the scanning equipment.

I turned the corner – and bumped into a Hispanic teen in a red jacket and black pants. "Aaargh!" We yelled. "Who-_who_ are _you_?" I stuttered, caught completely off-guard.

"_Me_?" he replied indignantly. "Who the heck are _you_? Why did I wake up one morning in a totally different room to the one I was _sleeping in_, fall out of a bunk bed, get sucked into a red and white sphere, read some random booklet about some Pokémon thing, and then bump into someone who I've never even _seen_ before?"

I freaked. The words of the Dialga I had briefly caught during the Galactic Incident came back to mind...

_-Dawn-_

_I looked up. "What is it, Dialga?"_

_-Guide them-_

_"Guide who?"_

_-Guide those who know nothing-_

"_...But why?"_

_-Guide them...those in red, orange and green-_

_Red, orange and green...?_

_-Who know nothing-_

_I pondered this..._

"...You need to come with me."


	5. The Marsh City

Chapter 5: The Marsh City  
>Holiday's view<p>

I woke up.

A couple of things were wrong with my surroundings.

Firstly, sunlight was streaming through a closed window.

Secondly, the room I was in had gyprock walls.

Thirdly, there was a small open cupboard with a coat hanger bar inside it, and hanging on coat hangers were my usual outfit, my field suit and a satchel which seemed to have something in it.

I swung out of the bed and leapt over to the window, slamming it open. Sticking my head out, I looked around.

I was on the second storey of a red building, and a small stream of people was coming and going out of it. Gravel roads wove rather haphazardly between houses, and on the edges they were dotted with small muddy patches. A flock of pigeon-like birds flew through the air.

It looked normal enough.

I stuck my head back in, closed the blinds, and changed.

I looked in the satchel. A small bag with a label "Berries", another bag with no label and plenty of spray-cans labelled "REPEL" occupied it. I pulled the drawstring of the berry bag and tipped it into my hand. A few handfuls of blue spherical fruits and pink heart-shaped ones fell out. Along with them came a typed note: _"These berries are Oran (blue) and Pecha (pink).The Oran berries will give you energy and the juice will speed up the healing of cuts and bruises. The Pecha berries will cure any kind of poisoning you may get. Make haste towards Sandgem Town."_ There it was again. Sandgem. I looked warily at the small fruits, and picked up one of the newly-dubbed Oran berries. I took a bite and a very nice sort of flavour filled my mouth. It was a bit dry with a tang, though not unpleasant, and it left a spicy aftertaste. I felt more wide awake instantly. I liked it. I put the rest back into the pouch, which I placed in the satchel. I reached into the bag, and my hand brushed plastic.

Picking the object up, I discovered a blue-and-yellow fold-out computer of sorts. I pressed a small power button on the inside and pixel words "TOWN MAP" appeared. Raising an eyebrow, I pressed another button and a map of Hokkaido filled the top screen, except there were towns, cities and mountains where there should have been other landmarks. A small hourglass icon appeared on the bottom screen, and then it zoomed its focus towards a place labelled "Pastoria City". A little arrow appeared, pointed to the marked square on the screen, and on the bottom screen the words "YOU ARE HERE" appeared. _Must be a GPS_, I thought. I selected the search option on the bottom screen and typed "Sandgem". The focus zoomed over to a tiny town near the shore on the bottom left corner of the island. Words appeared on the bottom screen: "Sandgem Town – next to the sea, this town is not only a hotspot for vacationers, but the home of the famous Rowan Pokémon lab."

Pokémon?

Why did that sound familiar?

Wondering, I packed my other belongings into the satchel, shouldered it, and left the room.

Looking around what I guessed was the entrance hall, I saw a few people sitting together, a few wandering, and one teenage boy sitting alone. I started to walk past them.

"...Hey." The teenager had spoken.

I turned to look at his pale face, framed by black hair with one streak of orange. "Yes?"

He looked at my face more closely, and his eyes went wide and he mouthed what suspiciously looked like 'Holiday'. I blinked, and asked, "Are you... looking for someone?"

He looked left and right and replied, "...Not really. I don't know why you're here, or if anyone else from Providence is, but-"

I was shocked. "_What?_"

He ignored me. "I came here a couple years ago. Probably in the same way as you did. I started having dreams, and then I woke up here one morning... Don't ask. " I was even more shocked. He continued. "Don't make eye contact with anyone. They'll challenge you to a battle, and you don't have any Pokémon. Travel along Route 215, then Route 210. Turn left at Hearthome City and head west, through Mt Coronet, to Oreburgh then Jubilife. Head south and you'll reach Sandgem. Or..." He said, seeing the incredulous look on my face, "you could take this bike to speed up the journey." He handed a walnut-sized sphere to me. I raised an eyebrow. He smiled. "Throw it," he said, "And don't show surprise. I'm Dusk, by the way. Tell Professor Rowan you met me. Arceus be with you." And he vanished into the crowd that was now pouring through the doors towards the exit. "...Arceus?" I muttered. Shaking my head, I walked outside.

I could see how the Marsh City had gotten its name. The bog patches dotting the road's edges were almost quicksand, as I found out after losing control of the bike. Stowing the bike in the same fashion as it had appeared, I left town, following the signs that pointed to Route 215.

**That's it! Chapter 5. :D Thanks to anyone who's following****!**

**xXSpiritKeeperXx, signing off~**


	6. Veilstone

**WARNING!**

**This chapter contains small spoilers for the episode 'A Family Holiday', so you're NOT allowed to flame if you see them and don't like it. If you do, I will blatantly point out who you are in the next chapter, and brutally remind you that this warning was at the top. So ... not to order anyone around or somehun', but maybe you should watch the episode? Or enjoy the spoiler, whatever you like. xD**

**You've been warned. [/rant]**

This... was unintentional. Chapter 6 being from Six's view. oO So sorry for being inactive! Thanks to anyone who's following. I feel so alone. At least I have three reviews now! XD Two Worlds was waaaaay overused so... I needed to be creative :) Also, The Pokémon world is now called Aera. It's better than 'The Pokémon world', with no official name. SO THERE. XD

~SK

* * *

><p>I opened my eyes.<p>

...Why the _hell_ was I in a different bed to the one I'd _lain down in_?

Trying to stay calm, I surveyed the room.

All my possessions were in their proper places, exactly as I'd last left them, except they were on different furniture. The drawers were stone-grey, the walls were stone-grey, the even the bedclothes were stone-grey. It looked quite miserable.

Leaping out of the bed, I checked the room for bugs and surveillance devices, but found none. On the other hand, I did find one of my numerous suits in a tiny closet, my katanas, my hoverboard, and a backpack, which appeared to have been thrown carelessly into the corner. Picking it up, a flash of blue and yellow caught my eye. Taking the vibrantly coloured object out, it revealed itself to be a small hand-held computer, with the words "TOWN MAP" etched into its plastic surface. Flicking the device open, I pressed the 'power' button and the two screens flickered to life. The said words 'Town Map' faded in and out in capitals, and a map of Hokkaido – no, scratch that – Sinnoh filled the screen. A small sand-timer icon flipped itself over for a few seconds, before the handheld computer's view zoomed towards the eastern shore where, once hovering, the word 'Veilstone' appeared on the bottom screen, accompanied by a message: '_Veilstone City is home to the four DNA Meteors, dubbed after the Legendary Hoennian Pokémon Deoxys. Another, more well-known, hotspot is the Veilstone Gym, owned by Maylene – the 'Fighting Girl'. A third and more sinister attraction is the Warehouse, formerly the Head of Operations for Team Galactic, disbanded after the aptly named Disbanding._'

...Why should the word Pokémon mean anything?

Shrugging it off, I flicked the GPS shut and put it away, pulling out a small pouch which, on opening, revealed a multitude of small... what appeared to be fruits. A flash of white alerted me, and I grabbed a small piece of paper, no which bore the message:_ "These berries are Oran (blue) and Pecha (pink).The Oran berries will give you energy and the juice will speed up the healing of cuts and bruises. The Pecha berries will cure any kind of poisoning you may get. Make haste towards Sandgem Town._" Huh. Oran. Pecha. Didn't sound too special. ...Wait. Sandgem. I remembered something...

_"Why are you here?" I demanded.  
><em>_-To give you directions-__  
>"...Directions?"<br>__-Look for Dusk in Sandgem-__  
>"Dusk?"<br>__-Dusk, yes, Dusk-_

That... telepathy.

Whipping out the Town Map again, I punched 'Sandgem' into the search option. It immediately zoomed to the opposite side of the island. Hooray. A small message appeared: "_Sandgem Town – next to the sea, this town is not only a hotspot for vacationers, but the home of the famous Rowan Pokémon lab_." Maybe Dusk was an assistant...? Punching in Dusk, the only option that came up was for Route 213: _"Route 213 is primarily an attraction because of the Lakeside Hotel complex, situated on easily accessible 'cliffs' in the hill's face. Its seaside setting is extremely pleasant, and many opt to watch the oncoming dusk in the evenings."_ Okay. I entered both 'Sandgem Dusk' and 'Dusk Sandgem' to no avail.

Putting all these objects away, I picked up the light backpack and left the room.

* * *

><p>The building, on closer inspection, seemed to be a hospital-slash-accommodation building of sorts. Nurses were running around everywhere. Once I thought I saw an EVO, except when I followed, it disappeared into a different room. I decided not to give chase.<p>

Finding the waiting room, it was unoccupied except for one teenager. His hair was a dark grey with an orange highlight, and his features were angular. He had heterochromia, with one brown eye and one hazel eye. He wore black jeans and a dark orange t-shirt under a black zip-up hoodie. Black converses completed the outfit. Emo kid. I started to walk past until he said "Hey."

I didn't stop.

"Hey."

I kept walking.

"...Hey. Providence dude."

Now _that_ was unexpected. I whipped around, one katana to his throat. "What the _hell_ do you want?" I hissed.

The kid backed up. "Whoa, whoa. Calm down." He lowered his voice. "Did you just wake up here just now?"

I kept the sword at his throat. "Yes."

He smiled, despite his predicament. "Well, so did I. Except a couple years ago. I know this land now."

He knew something? I lowered the sword, but did not retract it. "What about it?"

He smiled again. "It's called Sinnoh. It's the fourth region of the Pokémon world, Aera. The most spiritual one, too. Deities and all."

O-kay. This was interesting.

"Right now, we are in Veilstone city, the Fighting city. Maylene runs the Gym here, and uses Fighting-"

"I gathered that from the Town Map."

The boy faltered. "Oh... that makes sense. So you know to travel through the rainy Route 215, south along Route 210, pass Solaceon, West through Route 209, Hearthome City, Route 208, Mt Coronet, Route 207, Oreburgh, Route 203, then head south at Jubilife, through Route 202 and you'll end up in Sandgem?"

I just stood there.

He laughed. "Oh, it's not that bad. Bike?" He said, holding out a small red sphere.

I frowned and leaned back a little. "Aah... no thanks."

He pocketed the sphere and shrugged. "Meh, whatever. Just remember, avoid all trainers (basically everyone) on the routes, because you have no Pokémon. That should be easy, seeing as you _are_ Agent Six of Providence..."

Whoa. Back up... no... yes... all of this made... little or no sense.

"And tell Professor Rowan that Dusk saw you."

Before this could sink in, he had run out the door into the small crowds outside.

* * *

><p>I berated myself. I had <em>seen<em> Dusk! _Talked_ to him! And now he'd gone!

Stepping outside, the first thing I noticed was the violently orange building I'd stepped out of. The sign attached over the door read 'Pokémon Center' and it was a less extreme shade of orange then the building itself. The second thing was the smell. It was completely free of pollution and coupled with a sharp scent of pine sap and the salty tang of the sea. It reminded me of One's island...

Jumping off a ledge on my left, I ran into the pinewood forest, leapt onto the hoverboard and started circling the city, searching for one of those sheltered walkthroughs that joined routes and cities. They were fairly obvious on the electronic Map.

Peering into the canopy, the sun's rays informed me that I was going the longer way around to the longer path to Sandgem, so I turned on a dime and headed the opposite way.

"Aaaaaaaar-rrreeeeOOOOOW!"

The violent animal cry was followed by a grey blur leaping out of the darkness. Dodging only just in time, I saw, very clearly, a red eye, white fur, black claws and a black horn protruding from its head. Biowulf!

Bringing the board to a halt, I leapt off, the Magna blades came out and I prepared to fight him-

I blinked at the small wolf-slash-cat creature. It was completely covered in a white-grey pelt with a mane-like explosion of fur at its neck. Its claws were very stubby but sharp, and the fur on the tail grew in such a way so it looked like another blade. Its head had one scythe-like horn curving over its skull; a long point of fur hung down over the left side of its face, and red irises glowed in its ravaged eyes. A dark, shiny patch of bone showed on its forehead. A dark aura emanated from it, and I shuddered. Its expression changed to... disbelief? It gave a small woof-meow, and I blinked. It snorted and waved... no... signalled with a paw, pointing to me, then to itself, and then drawing a circle with a line through it into the dirt. It looked pointedly at me and raised what would be an eyebrow.

Unbidden, a thought of a red-and-white capsule with a black stripe dividing the two colours flickered through my head. The hell?

Sensing a breakthrough, the furred animal took a couple of tentative steps closer. I tensed and it flinched, but resolutely lifted a paw and touched my belt one, two... six times, equidistant along the circumference, before stepping back. Was this supposed to mean something? Guessing my name? If so, it was uncannily correct.

An incredulous look shadowed its face as my expression remained blank. Its eyes narrowed, and then it sprang into a fighting stance, teeth bared, claws extended. Then shadows seemed to gather at its horn. In a flash, is cried out and whipped its head downwards, the energy flying off and heading towards me. Oh crap.

I turned tail and fled – flew away. I kept surprisingly quiet, seeing as I was making a path of destruction through the tree branches with my swords, fleeing from an EVO that would certainly be Level 1, not even counting the near-human level intelligence.

I couldn't have been happier and more downhearted to streak past the westernmost exit out of the city.

The Absol's View

I waited in the bushes. No-one as of yet to ambush.

Ever since I'd chosen this spot to wait at, I'd had the ghost of a feeling that no-one or nothing would show up. It had proved correct, reducing me to doodling in the rocky soil with a claw. First other Pokémon in the area, then an Absol, then some random phrases 'I AM BORED', 'ABSOL', 'SOMETHING HAPPEN', 'VEILSTONE'. It didn't do much help.

_I must be mad, _I thought, _to have stopped in this random place._

...Mad!

I remembered meeting a mad Chimecho once. He'd hauled me by my head into a cardboard box he lived in, and showed me a 'technique', or so he called it, in a roundabout way: "This special thing I might will teach you might will improve your tepelathy... your tepelathy, I sense, is not good... let me show you this tepelathy..." Yep, he said tepelathy, not telepathy. Mad guy.

I cleared a space through the Unown lettering of VEILSTONE so it read a crude VL-IO-F. I them whipped down a small pentagon inside a circle, crossed by three horizontal lines and two rounded brackets closing the whole thing off. I then placed my paw to it and muttered, "Lords of the universe, Arceus, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, show me anyone near me throughout time and sp-"

An image flashed through my head – human, green, flying, weapons–

I was flung back a small way, and promptly threw up into the soil. The vision was not a satisfying experience. But... the Creators had contacted me! I felt a sudden rush of respect for the mad Chimecho, wishing him luck. The Creators...!

I doggedly buried the previous contents of my stomach and dragged myself away from them, back to my hiding place. I waited a few minutes... the faintest droning reached my ears. I instantly readied myself. As the droning got louder, I peeked out from behind a tree.

Over there – no, closer – closer still – now!

I leapt with the speed I had naturally as an Absol, yelling a wordless cry as I aimed for whatever-it-was' head.

My target was a human, entirely clad in green, riding on... something that was not another Pokémon. The thing I'd seen!

As I flew towards – him? – he ducked out of the way. And at the speed I was going, that was not an easy feat. I saw sunglasses, brown hair. He looked to formal to be a normal trainer... businessman? Gym Leader?

He stopped the hovering flat board of metal, and – wh-_what_? Swords just... just... like a Gallade! They grew from his arms!

I quickly sobered up as he leapt off the board towards me, ready to attack. I leapt straight upwards, hit the ground running, and skidded to a stop as the human went into a fighting stance. I called out to him. "Hey! Trainer!" He just stood there, as wary as he was a moment ago. "You're supposed to battle me...?" My voice trailed off.

He kept still. I snorted; maybe he was deaf. I pointed to him, them to me, and drew a crude Pokéball into the soil – a circle with a line through it. I completed the movement with an eyebrow raise.

Instantly, his head gave the smallest jerk, then he frowned. A breakthrough, thank Arceus!

I took a couple of tentative steps closer, silent except for the soft _pat pat_ of my feet on the ground. When I was within clawing distance and raised a paw, he tightened his grip on those strange swords. I flinched, but resolutely touched his belt... there were no Pokéballs. Not one. I took a step back, mind reeling. How could a human know _nothing_? Absolutely _nothing_? Growing up around Pokémon, how...?

Not deaf, not blind, one small breakthrough. ...Maybe he hit his head pretty hard? I decided to jog it.

I took a couple of steps backwards, anchored my paws, bared my teeth and readied a Night Slash attack. It was the most recognisable one of my moves, the others being Slash, Crunch and Take Down. The familiar darkness clouded my horn, darkening its hue and making heat-wave style eddies in the air. Charging up the power, I let out a "Night _Slash_!" and swung the sickle downwards on the second word. The attack slid smoothly off the blade and hissed through the air at the person.

He leapt out of the way, dodging and landing on the board in one movement. Not normal for a human. In an instant, he was gone. Flown away. A few tree branches lay scattered on the ground, sliced cleanly off.

In a half-daze, I walked, without looking where I was going, towards a very small clearing nearby. Once there, I curled up and waited. Five minutes... ten... I sunk into a torpor, thinking about the events. Twenty... thirty...

A snapping twig jolted me out of the reverie, and I turned to look at the orange streak bobbing through the trees. The black-clad teenager looked at me and smiled, brushing off his garments. "Hey, Snowshadow," he said, scratching me behind the ear. He didn't hurt and shun me, unlike some other trainers. I leant into the scratch.

"Hello, master." I purred, eyes closed.

"Snow!" he exclaimed. "Why so formal? Lighten up, girl!" He tossed me a Sweet-Dry Poffin. Delicious. I nibbled on it as we exchanged news of the morning's events. I was shocked to hear he'd met the same guy in the Pokémon Center. His eyes lit up when I explained, and he said "That's the _elite_! What was his name... er... me being from part of a small suburb on Earth and in Sinnoh for two years, I don't know!" He chuckled. "Either way, he must've come by dimension travel. No other way."

I frowned. Dimension travel!

"Well, Snow, I think that if anyone can help me, it's him... and others, maybe." His expression turned dark. "And all six of you will come. You, Gerant, Thorse, Lode, Rent. And Kiera."

Not... Surely not Kiera! He interrupted me as I opened my mouth. "I'm taking Kiera. I have plan, dear Snowshadow, I have a _plan_."

His dark grin widened a little too much.

* * *

><p>Things! 1) Dusk is NOT a young Van Kleiss, so STOP FANGIRLING. 2) His whole team – guess them all right – and you will win a solid gold virtual cookie, chapter list and bragging rights! This is open until they are revealed in later chapters. 3) Hooray, updates! xD<p>

I have seen 'A Family Holiday', but I started this before I'd seen it, so little things like 'Rebecca Holiday' and Six's swords being called 'Magna blades' I will use, but things like Beverly being cured I will not.

...Do you think I should change Holiday's name? Because now I know, so... should I? Also in chapter 1 where Rex says 'anatomically' and chapter 4 'semi-conscious'. They don't seem like the sort of things he would say; should I change those too?

~SK


	7. Not EVOs

**Calypso**: U IZ FOLLOWING. WILL LUV U FOREVERZ. 3 *runs off to edit previous chapters*

**Aenrhien**: *showers with cookies* He added me to Story Alerts! *happydances*

**Alaxbird**: *showers with Pokémon, nanites and solid diamond cookies* Y-you added me to A-Author Alerts... *dissolves into happy sobbing fit*

I'm going to make a 'credits' sort of thing as a last chapter, mind you people. It'll include a summary of the Author Notes, and be punctuated by song lyrics. :3 I've already decided the song; it fits what I've planned in the fic perfectly... And 'felled' is a word. It's kind of old-fashioned, and it means killed, dropped, come down to the ground etc. Example: 'The farmer felled some trees to clear the land for his crops'.

* * *

><p>Chapter 7: Not EVOs<p>

* * *

><p>Rex's View<p>

The girl led me through a maze of white halls. People in lab coats ran up and down the corridors. "It's like Providence..." I murmured. She tilted her head towards me. "What's that?"

I snapped out of my daydream. "...Oh, nothing..."

We walked. And walked. Turned a corner. And walked. Skipped around someone carrying piles of paperwork.

Suddenly, the girl stopped and opened one of the doors that looked exactly the same as all the others, except a small metal plaque was screwed to the door. It read 'Prof K. Rowan'. Pulling the handle, she waved me inside before entering and closing the door. There was a computer on an official-looking desk, and its screen was littered with a few programs. A machine hummed in the corner. Six of those capsule things rested in it, red sides up. They glowed a light yellow, and tiny sparks ran across their surface.

"Professor Rowan, something's happened that you might want to know about." Her voice rang in the near-silent room.

_Bang_.

Clunk.

Screeeee.

A nervous-looking teen poked his head around the corner. Small smears of black grease covered his face and hands. Safety glasses were perched on his forehead, like how I wore my goggles. A red beret was balanced behind it, and he was rubbing his head. "Ah, Dawn. Professor Rowan isn't here right now; he's... uh..." His hand leapt to his pocket to pull out a small piece of paper. After a quick glance, he said "He's at Lake Verity, there was a swarm of Surskit there. You know, Hoenn and all; he needs them for a Pokedex entry." At a nod from 'Dawn', he shoved the piece of paper back into his pocket and leant back down around the corner. "Now back to this stupid machine. Why isn't it working?"

My ears perked up, and I strode past an indignant beanie-wearing teenage girl to look at the machine. The boy was lying on his back under another large one of those things that held the capsules, and as I watched, he reached a hand down and grabbed at a flathead screwdriver near his left knee. I tapped his shin. "Hey, what's wrong with it?"

He shuffled out and looked at me. "Something's wrong with the system there. Every time someone tries to heal a Pokémon, it sparks and spits out the Pokéball. Not to mention the Pokémon becomes Paralyzed." I couldn't make head or tail of that. Maybe I could fix it... I voiced my thought. "Can I try to fix it?"

He looked at me like I'd just grown two heads. "Sorry dude, but you've gotta get a job before you can meddle with Professor Rowan's equipment." He slid back under the machine and a muffled "I'm his assistant and technician!" sorta settled the matter.

I walked back to a bewildered 'Dawn' and sat down on the floor, leaning on the wall. She looked at me in a strange way, and sat down in a small chair.

"So." I looked up at her. "What's your name? Why did you wake up in a spare room? And why-" she broke off. "Why...?" I prompted.

Her face turned away, and I could barely hear the "Nothing," over another ScreeeEEEEEeeeCLUNK from the maintenance man. My mind whirled. Did she like me? As in _like_ like? I mentally slapped myself and faced the maintenance guy. Hmm... I closed my eyes and concentrated. My nanites automatically reached out to the machine over there.

It took a while because I wasn't touching it, but eventually I saw the workings of the machine, almost like a 3D blueprint. I waited for the blue lines to finish drawing themselves, and looked at the finished product... Holy crud, that thing was complex. Basically, it clamped onto the capsules with an electromagnet, read the data of the capsule, and edited that data so it was free of... cuts and bruises. Data can be hurt? It then saved the data and the electromagnet turned off, so they could be taken out. The machine, however, had a sort of bump... like a blob of solder on a circuit board, except it was on the programming. I mentally zoomed in on it. The small blob was a virus, and it ran a shock through the 'cleaning' process so the 'Pokemon' became 'Paralyzed' (as the techie guy had said), and reversed the electromagnet's polarity, which would have made sparks fly in between the two previously attached objects as they flew apart. I concentrated harder, and forced a few more nanites to fly out of me, across the room and into the machine. From there, I made them work with the man's tinkering and delete the virus before calling them back.

Nanites safely back inside of me, I smiled and opened my eyes to see a very interested Dawn. She squinted at me. "What're you doing?" I shifted my eyes from left to right. The maintenance guy fortunately saved me with an exultant cry of "Thank Arceus! It's fixed, almost by itself!" This earned a very, very suspicious look from the girl. I braced myself for a Holiday-style interrogation, but none came. She stood up and opened the door, poking her head out. She instantly leapt up into the air - an alarm started blaring its unpleasant _BrrraaaAAAP-BrrraaaAAAP-BrrraaaAAAP_ to the world.

She rushed back inside and grabbed a capsule from the desk. "Arceus help us all, the Electivire's loose! Not the sedated one, oh no, the one that's on a mating season rampage and has a broken Drapion claw in its side! Out of my way!" She barged past me into the hallway, yelling "Move!" and "Emergency!" as the sounds of people running reached my ears.

"Indeed, Arceus help us all." The teen shook his head. He pointed a finger out the door. "You might want to go help; it's a nasty one, that. Who are you?"

I shrugged. "I'm Rex, younger of two sons." The other replied "I'm Lucas. Let's skip most of the formalities and go help." He re-adjusted his red beret and ran out the door, dropping the screwdriver and safety glasses in the process.

I followed suit. This 'Electivire' sounded bad.

* * *

><p>It was. A hunk of the building had been blown off by something, as I saw following wherever Lucas was going. Turn another corner, run, burst through a door -<p>

Outside!

The EVO!

Yellow!

Smack Hands burst out, I ran for the monster -

Lucas' View

Whirr. Thud.

A blur of red and orange shot past me, and I saw Rex -

His hands!

Big metal fists!

I didn't have time to think about it. "Leafy, go! Stop him with a Wood Hammer!" The Pokéball spun in midair, and the earthen-bound Galapagos tortoise burst out. With a "Tooooor!" It slammed its front feet into the ground, and two large roots leapt for Rex. One wrapped around the right fist, and one around his ankle -

Rex's View

I was jerked to a halt by two roots! "Van _Kleiss_!" I yelled, and slashed at them with the BFS -

Lucas's View

The fists changed to a giant sword. As in freaking HUGE - and he slashed at Leafy's attack! I couldn't help it - I yelled "You _fool_!" and told Leafy to try and pull him back.

"_Rex_! Let _us_ deal with it!"

Dawn's View

Even before I could throw the Pokéball to help Lucas, he'd started to pull the strange boy back. I mean, metal fists and a sword? That's the kind of stuff you didn't see very often - coming from me, the girl who'd met the creators of the universe and helped stop Team Galactic from destroying it!

"Mamoswine, _go_!"

Rex's View

In a lucky glance, I saw a thing stuck in Yellow's hip - the claw! The Electivire!

"_Rex_! Let _us_ deal with it!" Lucas' sharp yell pierced my skull. I looked back at him to see a GIANT turtle with plants on its back, feet in the ground, standing next to the boy. Lucas was waving me back madly, and I came when a tree behind me was felled by a bolt of electricity. No sooner was I back when the roots withered and died, and a woolly mammoth with blue rings around its eyes stampeded forwards and stopped in front of the Electivire. Lucas shouted "Leafy! Use Earthquake!" The tortoise lumbered forwards to stand next to the mammoth. Dawn's voice floated over. "Mamoswine, use Earthquake at the same time as Leafy!"

It was an incredible sight as the two giants reared backwards and slammed their front feet at least half a foot into the ground. The shockwave made ripples in the soil, but when some hit each other they cancelled each other out so a concentrated wave hit the monkey thing head on. It shrieked twice and fell forward, unconscious. The laboratory, however, stayed perfectly fine... almost like they could control the path made by the move.

Suddenly, two small red lasers shone onto the titans and they dissolved into plasma, shooting back to their respective owner-master-people. I looked at Lucas in disbelief. He looked at me with equal energy. Then we simultaneously opened our mouths and threw questions at each other.

"What are those monsters?"

"You made giant metal fists!"

"The thing they did, you said it was called Earthquake?"

"You look like you wouldn't know a Pikachu from a Luxio!"

"What _is_ a Luxio?"

"Why don't you know a thing about Pokémon?"

"Do you control those EVOs?"

Those last two halted us both. I hadn't a clue what a Pokémon was, and he didn't look like he knew what an EVO was. "Hey," Dawn interjected, "let's go inside and talk to each other, one at a time, ask-a-question-and-answer-a-question style."

Lucas turned to her with a smile. "Sure, why not?"

* * *

><p>I'd explained to them what an EVO was, what nanites were, what they did and about the world-wide war. In return, they'd told me what a Pokémon was, how they battled and how the 'level system' worked. I'd told them about my powers, and Lucas said "It was <em>you<em> that fixed the machine!" They'd told me about Special Conditions, or Status Effects, when Dawn's watch started beeping.

"Oh! Professor Rowan's back!" She dashed out of the room. Lucas looked at me, sighed, and shrugged. "She always runs to help him with his work. Not a clue why. I'll tell him what happened so he doesn't freak out." He stood up and walked to the door, exited and not a moment later there was this gruff voice growling through the door.

"What? He woke up in the spare quarters? No, Lucas, let Dawn speak - he _WHAT_?" That had better have been about my builds. "Let me see hi- " This guy with a MASSIVE moustache burst into the room and froze. The two teens stood behind him. Lucas grinned cheesily, thumbed at the guy and put his hands together, looking up at the ceiling. Yeah. I waved to the man. He blinked, straightened up, and drew a deep breath and said, "There is some explaining to do all round."

* * *

><p><strong>Yay! Chapter's over! :D Awesome Holiday action planned next chapter - The KICKASS type! Please continue reading, followers, and give me some ConCrit! ;D<strong>

**~SK**


	8. Nanite Free

**Aenrhien**: Blargh, sorry. DX I tried to make it as sensible as possible, but obviously it didn't work :I I also tried to hop around the viewpoints to where the 'action scenes' were, but OH WELL. Pity is, I'd planned a little hopping here but with your comment, I had to... uh... _compact_ some scenes. x.x And an add to Author Alerts! *drowns in Pokéballs and nanites*

**Alaxbird**: Heck yeah, you're up here! ^^ Every time someone reviews, adds an Alert or Favourites I'll reply ;)

There may be a little implied Holix in here. If you want stronger stuff, GO ELSEWHERE. Holix will only play an extremely tiny part in this... like sprinkling salt on your bowl of food.

* * *

><p>Chapter 8: Nanite Free<p>

* * *

><p>Holiday's View<p>

It was surprisingly easy to wind my way through the muddy valley of Route 215. The bog was generally ankle-deep with thin log bridges spanning the deeper parts.

I walked to a small signpost at the corner of a bend in the road. It read:

Back is Route 215

Right is Route 210

At least _that_ leg of the journey was over. I slumped to the ground underneath the sign and pulled the satchel off my shoulder, dumping it onto the grass next to me. I rifled through for the berry pouch, pulled out another Oran berry, and ate it. Sitting there, savouring the flavour, watching the sun sink below the treeline, I let my thoughts wander. What was this place? There hadn't been any sign of missing details or such, so it couldn't be a dream. It seemed like one though; the boy Dusk, the 'trainers', the bog, the large, strange grey birds I saw flying in flocks up high – their constant, high-pitched "Stree! Stree!" ringing loud. And the constant nagging at the deepest parts of my mind, the feeling I'd seen it all before... when I definitely hadn't.

I realised my eyelids were drooping shut. I needed to sleep soon. I flicked them open and looked around. The sky had turned a beautiful mix of pale blues and rich pinks, the clouds catching the light and changing them to that hue. Always there, always watching, that huge mountain rose, twin peaks jutting into the sky.

A black blur flew across my vision.

I sat up hurriedly, but logic told me it couldn't have been Six – I'd know the ninja anywhere. I quickly packed up the berry pouch, slung the bag over my shoulder and stood up. The faintest smell of something like fruit hung in the air. I sniffed, and found it was coming from the right, in the trees. I followed my nose; the small berries weren't exactly filling.

Walk... walk... I looked back.

I couldn't see the path anymore. Way to go, Rebecca.

Turning back the way I came, stepping forward, walking a while, I realised I'd passed that tree branch that looked like a dragonfly four times. Circling. That faint scent lingered though, sweet and strange. Like a pitcher plant... There were oversized birds. What if...?

I walked past a tree trunk and saw the venus flytrap sitting there, jaws open, each flap at least three feet in diameter. Heart rate increasing substantially, I picked up a fallen tree branch and held it by my side... just in case... but it was a plant. But it was _huge_... Trying once more to retrace my steps, I caught a glimpse of the path, the setting sun illuminating it orange. I let out a relieved sigh and started towards it.

_Hisssss_

Something slammed into the small of my back, and whipping around I saw the flytrap. It was dangling from a branch above my head, and it glared at me with two beady eyes. It cackled and hissed, waving its leaves like arms. EVO!

I brought the stick up, trying to hit it between the eyes, but it was _fast_. My weapon hit the tree branch where its head had been a moment before, and I whipped around to see the Carnivine leap into the air off the ground and whirl its red-and-green roots around, said roots glowing green. Hell no was it about to hit me with whatever it was doing.

I ducked under it and slashed at the attack with my branch, but the move kept going and sliced the weapon cleanly in two. Crap.

Leaping up, I ran blindly through the undergrowth, having to leap into the air or duck more than once to avoid a fallen pine tree or overhanging branch. The creature's hissing persisted, and I ducked behind a tree, pressing my back to it. I tried to slow my breathing, straining my ears as the noise stopped. I couldn't hear a sound.

"Well... you're tricky prey..."

The hissing voice cut through the silence. A sharp intake of air rushed through my nose. Prey? For... what? Surely not the EVO... Did it talk? EVOs couldn't talk. But Bobo could talk... How did it sneak up so fast? I moved my foot to the right and bumped something. As quietly as I could, I reached down for it – a fist-sized stone. It was almost perfectly spherical, with bulges of moss, lichen and mould covering its surface. It would have to do, as there was no time to scrape off the cushioning plant matter.

The voice came from the left around the tree. "Where are you? Why won't you just be my prey... I've just come out of hibernation, and I want food..."

This was way too creepy already. I leapt out from my hiding place and hurled the stone at the monster before turning to run. A sharp cry told me I'd hit it, and silence instantly fell. That wasn't natural. Had I concussed it? It was so huge...

I turned back to face the spot. The furry rock was the only thing on the ground. There was no sign of the giant plant.

As I turned away, something caught my eye. A quick flash of red. I walked over to the rock, and picked it up. Turning it over, nothing seemed different. I could've sworn...!

I brushed a piece of mould away, and in the quickly fading light could just make out the dull red of sandstone shining out. However, it was slightly rusted and cool, like metal. Heart rate increasing, I pulled away bits of moss and lichen. When most of it was gone, Rex's words flashed through my head.

'_...spheres, red on the top and white on the bottom...'_

I stood up, the object clasped in my hand. It was exactly like the description, except for the dark blue with two red patches. I felt the weight of the metal sphere. Something told me the EVO wasn't around any more...

I rifled through the satchel that had, by some miracle, managed to stay on my shoulder throughout the episode, for the Town Map GPS. Quickly finding my way back to the path, I pitched camp in a sheltered spot, not visible from the road.

Time to spend the night in the cold.

* * *

><p>Rex's View<p>

The spare room was... well... free, so Professor Rowan let me hang there.

Lying on the bottom bunk (falling off again wasn't exactly a welcoming concept), I was fingering a Pokéball (as Lucas had dubbed it). I wanted to know how the ten-foot-tortoise Leafy, aka Torterra, could fit inside. They'd said the data got broken down into electrons and stored in the special glassy material, which was like a synthetic Apricorn shell. When I asked, they said an Apricorn was a fruit that could be hollowed out and used to store a Pokémon, and someone called Professor Matthew Oak designed the first Pokéball with the synthetic shell, and his descendant (Professor, again) Samuel Oak was the leading Pokémon researcher in the Kanto Region of the Pokemon world Aera. Quite the mouthful.

The data was stored as ones and zeroes in the system, which had a memory of up to one hyperbyte (When I asked, they said it was 1,000 terabytes, which was 1,000 gigabytes. Ugh!), and the data of each _atom_ was recorded. Which also meant that anything from a person to a tree could be kept safe... or tortured _in_ oblivion _to_ oblivion. Trainers had to sign a contract and all this stuff to say they wouldn't be evil and so on.

With a sigh, I flicked the capsule onto the desk across the room, where it rolled and became still. The next thing I flicked was the light switch, and the second I closed my eyes I was asleep.

.

..

...

_Well, isn't this strange._

_Walking through trees, I loop around the same circuit four times and see a giant plant, turn to walk to a path and get attacked by the giant plant... Fight back, run away, hide behind a tree. Pick up a mossy rock. Attack the plant. Run away. Turn, pick up the mossy rock, take the moss off. Oh, a Pokéball. Walk away. Set up camp. Sleep._

...

..

.

I woke up very suddenly and completely. I thought the dream through. All my dreams were strange lately. The monster, the blue Pokéball, the white cloak behind me that looked too familiar –

... I saw it every day, would know it even if my amnesia kicked in. That was no cloak.

I ran to get Lucas.

* * *

><p>Holiday's View<p>

Sleep wouldn't come. I tried polishing the metal orange-sized ball, but the rust stayed put. I carefully put it in the corner of the small, one-man tent. Something had been nagging me since the EVO attack, and I couldn't place it. What was it? What was the unturned stone? ...Ha ha, the irony. Two things, really. One that I knew was how it hadn't attacked me again after I'd thrown the stone/ball. It escaped, yes, but why not strike? What was the power that it attacked with – turning five-centimetre-thick roots into deadly knives? A dull throb settled somewhere in my brain from all the thinking, and trying to ward off the oncoming headache, I pulled out my hair elastic and let my head flop back onto the makeshift pillow that was the satchel. The biting cold of winter was everywhere, and I kept my lab coat on instead of sacrificing the garment for a softer headrest. I closed my eyes and waited for sleep to come, if eventually.

"...Where... there... what'd you say now?" A far-off voice floated through the still night and the fabric tent. A faint reply came "There! Over there!" I tensed. Two conflicting emotions, fear and... something else, battled for dominance in my thoughts. It couldn't be...

The first voice came again. "Where, Rex?"

My heart skipped a beat and I had to force myself to calm down. Rex was just a name. There could be plenty of Rexes. 'Rex' replied "Sure, over here, behind that tree. I thought you said telepathy existed, no? So explain to me why I saw this crazy dream where-" the voice stopped, maybe two metres away. No mistaking it for Rex now. I had to hold back from leaping up and running to him. Soft footsteps padded through the grass, getting closer all the time. Rex's voice came. "Doc? That you?"

I opened my eyes. Why bother not responding? The facts fit. I sat up, crossed my legs and opened the zip enough to look through to the brown eyes and orange goggles I had come to know so well. "Rex?"

The exultant reply was immediate. "Doc! You wouldn't believe all the stuff I've seen today! I saw EVOs – Pokémon, technically – that these kids my age controlled, made them battle, make earthquakes that didn't wreck the buildings next to us, and they saw my builds! Lucas's jaw dropped, you should've seen-"

I raised an eyebrow. Rex stopped. "Tell me who Lucas is and what a Pokémon is. Also how you knew how I was here, where you came from, how you got here – everything." I dropped the eyebrow and smiled. He sighed.

"Sure, but you'll have to come out here first."

I climbed out with the satchel and rusted ball, quickly packed up the tent and shoved it inside the bag, tied my hair up and faced Rex. A boy about his height and age stood next to him, and in the night could just make out a beret and scarf. The first thing the other boy did was say "Hi- Uh, Rex said we'd be looking for someone, are you them?" I nodded.

Rex turned to a steadily blushing Lucas. Teenage boys. "Lucas, this is Dr Holiday, Doc, Lucas. Now, pull out that fancy psychic fox again and take us back to the lab?"

Instantly there was a flash of red light and I saw a silhouette before it faded. Lucas said "Hey Zara, Teleport us back to the lab, please."

_-Yes, Lucas-_

I had to stop myself from crying out. Why the _heck_ was there _so much_ telepathy in the past two days?

A purple glow surrounded us and as it faded, the dark of night was replaced with the blinding glare of fluorescent lights and whitewashed walls.

"Lucas! You're back!" A girl in a white beanie ran up to Lucas and gave him a brief hug. His cheeks tinged pink. "Yeah, I'm back, Dawn. Rex, do the honours?"

Rex sighed. "This is Doctor Holiday, Doc, this is Dawn" –point to the beanie-wearing girl – "and Professor Rowan." Point to a man with a giant moustache and an old-fashioned suit under a travelling cloak. Dawn instantly looked to the Professor and asked "Do we have another spare room?"

* * *

><p>At least an hour later as I was dragging myself to the room number 206, I'd introduced myself and had an update on what a Pokémon was. I thought back on the conversation...<p>

"_You're from a planet called Earth, where you have different countries, continents and states, lots of political systems, billions of people and hundreds of currencies?" Dawn's cry pretty much summed up the expressions on the trio's face. "And monsters you call EVOs instead of Pokémon?" I nodded._

_Lucas frowned. "Hey, what's up with the rusty Great Ball you've been holding for half an hour?"_

_I frowned at the 'Great Ball'. "I thought it was a stone that I threw at a monster I ran into. The monster disappeared afterwards."_

_Dawn squinted. "No flash of red?"_

_I shook my head. "No, there-" actually... there was! I stopped mid-sentence and confirmed the red instead. The girl held out her hand. "Great Ball, please."_

_I handed it to her and she immediately pointed the white circle away from me and pressed it. A beam of red plasmid light shot about two metres and materialized into the flytrap. "That...!" I breathed. The flytrap merely looked at me and hissed. The professor looked mildly puzzled. "You fought that?" At a nod, he continued "That is a Carnivine. You caught it. It's your Pokémon."_

_An outraged cry of "How come she gets a Pokémon?" from Rex and bad memories with the monster made me decline. "Dawn, you have it. Or can you release them into the wild?"_

_She nodded. "I'll release it in the morning and break the Ball. It's barely functioning. I haven't the slightest clue why or how it was caught... and I've already got one. They're fairly common. Now, what is a nanite?" The monster gave me a strange look as it returned to its plasma-like state._

Obviously they didn't have nanites.

I finally got to my room on the second floor, unlocked the door, dumped the bag at the end of the small bed there and flopped onto the bed fully clothed, instantly asleep.

* * *

><p><em>Scratch. Scratch.<em>

Was something scratching?

_Scratch. Scratch._

Yes, something was scratching.

_Scratch. Scratch._

"Go away," I mumbled.

_Scratch. Scratch. Scratch._

I forced my sleep-drugged eyes open and looked at the door.

_Scratch. Scratch. Scratch._

"Can't it wait?"

_Scratchscratchscratchscratch_

Obviously not. Pushing myself up, I stretched my cramped body and dragged my feet over to the door.

Wrenching the door open, I found a blue and black panther in mid-paw at the door. A star-shaped tuft of yellow fur tipped its tail and the same yellow fur lined blue ears. Miniature explosions of black fur sprang from the shoulder blades and pelvis, with a large one shooting backwards from its head. It blinked, made a very human-like guilty grimace, and meowed.

I smiled in spite of myself. The sound was so _normal_.

The cat smiled, pointed at me and then down the hall. I blinked, but quickly grabbed a hair tie from my pocket, closed the door and followed it down a flight of stairs, along another hallway and then outside, where Rex, Professor Rowan and Dawn were waiting.

The cat bounded over to the girl and rubbed its face against her shoulder. At the same time as she whispered something to it and it ran off, Rex saw me and ran over.

"Finally, Doc! We've been waiting for-"

"Five minutes, in which Bolter went and fetched her," Dawn interjected.

"But it was _forever_! And I want to get a taco!" Rex whined.

The professor walked over. "We're going to the Pokémon Center for breakfast. The Center acts as a restaurant, hospital and Item shop all in one. They are very useful. And Rex," he said, turning to the teen, "There may or may not be tacos. You'll have to ask."

I nodded and turned to Dawn. "So, which way is it?" She opened her mouth to respond, but Rex cut her off by building the 'Rex Ride' and calling "Then let's go!"

Dawn pinched the bridge of her nose. "Uh, Rex? Two things. First, the Center is that orange building about a hundred metres away. Secondly, if anyone sees you like that, they're probably going to assume either you're a Mew or Ditto and try to catch you, they're hallucinating, or you're half-Pokémon – and try to catch you. Not very good options," she blatantly commented. Rex looked puzzled. "What's a Mew?"

"A Mew is an extremely rare Pokémon that can use the move Transform, and turn into anything. Ditto... that's all it _can_ do. Transform. It's pretty rare too," the answer came.

I could see the mental cogs in Rex's head moving, and he finally sighed and disassembled the hovering motorcycle, walking with the group to the Center.

Halfway there, the sound of Rex's footsteps stopped and I instinctively turned to see the boy still, head flopped back, blue nanite lines creeping up from his jugular vein to his eyes, which were white. Like how Six had described Rex's possession by One...

The other two turned, and when Dawn saw Rex she gasped and clapped her hands to her mouth. Suddenly, the lines faded away, his eyes turned normal, and he fell forward to faceplant into the road. "Darn!" exploded from his mouth. I instantly knelt down next to him. "Rex?"

He smiled, despite the obvious bruise appearing just below his hairline. "Doc... Six's here too."

I blinked. "Here? Here meaning..."

"Sinnoh, yeah."

* * *

><p><strong>Here you are, I merged the chapters! 8D<strong>

**~SK**


	9. Arrival

_... "What's the difference between _Slam Dunk_ and my manga? Why is _Slam Dunk_ so cool and interesting?"_

_Of course, I myself also loved _Slam Dunk_, and would be the first to admit that it was very interesting! I just wanted to get an outside, objective view of the differences between _Slam Dunk_ and my manga. My friend replied thus:_

"_You can tell by reading it how much Mr. Inoue Takehiko really loves basketball. And you can feel how much fun he has drawing _Slam Dunk_, and it's like Mr. Inoue's drawing it with the message 'please read it, basketball's so much fun' to the readers. With your manga, I'm sure you're drawing it because you really love it too, but it's just not coming through as fun... it's like, you're having all the fun by yourself and we're being left out or left behind. There's no sense of 'please read it'..."_

_When I heard the truth, it did deflate me, but I continued to pose the same question to other friends of mine. And yet I kept getting similar responses from them as well._

_And then, it came to me. There are many different elements to drawing manga, but the most important principle is:_

"_One must have fun drawing one's own manga. And then, what's even more critical is to be aware of one's audience and draw for the readers' enjoyment. Everything must be for the readers. One must be able to change the expressions on their faces and make them say 'wow! That is so cool!' when they've finished reading it!"_

_And after a little while, I realized that this is what is meant by 'entertainment'. It's important to grasp the practical aspects of drawing manga, but as long as one draws thinking 'I'm going to be an entertainer!' I feel that the other things will quietly and naturally fall into place._

- Masashi Kishimoto, creator of _Naruto_. Extract from _Naruto_ volume 14 'My Personal History' parts 19-20

* * *

><p><strong>Aenrhien<strong>: It's actually a Luxray... Y'know, shoulder height panther and all -_-'

**aweswomstorydigest**: Thanks for the add to Favourites! :D

**Nega20**: AN ADD TO ALERTS *glomps*

* * *

><p>Chapter 10 – Arrival<p>

* * *

><p>Six's View<p>

I was starting to get a headache. _So many_ of these... _animals_ kept jumping out at me, always fleeing when confronted with my swords.

Ugh.

At least, in very good progress, I had managed to fly to what a sign called 'Oreburgh City'. There was another Pokémon Center, another large brown-roofed building (which I discovered were called 'Gyms') and a large mining company.

Hidden by a slag heap next to the entrance to the mine, I pulled out the Town Map again. The GPS' message this time was "_Oreburgh City is home to the mining company 'Digtrio' (clearly a play on the Kantonese Pokémon Dugtrio) as it was founded by three miners, now deceased. The Gym is probably the most popular attraction here, with battles and seats to view them booked out almost constantly. The Mining Museum offers information on Digtrio's past, as well as a Pokémon resurrection service for any trainer with three badges that has found an identifiable fossil somewhere_." Wow. Like Jurassic Park or something.

As I put the small device away, a flash of purple next to my foot caught my eye. It had better not have been another monster...

A small bag poked its drawstring out of the heap. Digging it out, I found it was filled with a soft, dark pink, extremely fine-grained and slightly oily sand. I rubbed a tiny pinch between my fingers and it settled into the creases and ridges of my fingerprints, refusing to budge. However, on closer inspection, the dust had a sheen... the only word was delicate – the kind that appeared on some gemstones, like a tiger's eye or petrified wood.

Pulling the drawstring tight, I hid the hoverboard and turning a corner ran into a young man of maybe twenty. He took one look at the bag and exclaimed "Oh! That's Stardust! I'm a shopkeeper for the Pokémon Center, and can sell it to you for 1,000 Pokédollars, how about it?" He carefully pulled out a strange-looking note of currency. I narrowed my eyes, studied it (it seemed legitimate), his expression (which was good natured and a bit dumb) and his uniform, waited a moment, then replied "Sure."

* * *

><p>Half an hour later I'd booked a room at the Pokémon Center for 400 Pokedollars (camping in the cold, anyone?), stashed the hoverboard under the small bed and walked back outside, where people were milling around, shopping, chatting or exercising.<p>

"Hey, no fair! Give it back!"

I turned to the indignant shouting a few metres away to see a small boy jumping into the air, trying to reach a cap that a larger kid was holding just out of reach. I frowned.

The older boy laughed. "Not until you give me the Super Potion you found!"

The young boy gave one more giant leap at the hat, and the bully grabbed one of the two red-and-white capsules off the desperate kid's belt. Landing, the smaller boy cried out and quickly threw the other one, yelling "Starly! Help me get Geodude and my cap back!"

In a flash of red plasmid light, a pigeon-like bird appeared and gave a small "Stree!"

In a roaring fury, the smaller kid ran at the bully. The younger one sprang around the elder one just out of his reach, confusing him as the bird divebombed the items, successfully getting both.

Quickly backpedalling, the younger one did a quick airpunch, snatched the hat from the still flying bird's claws and jammed it onto his head, and shouted "You're never getting _my_ Super Potion, or my cap, _or_ my Geodude, _so_ _there_!" The bird perched on his shoulder triumphantly as he walked away. An exultant "Thanks for helping me, Starly!" floated back to where I was standing.

The bully kicked the ground, looked after the boy and said "Darn..."

* * *

><p>I couldn't sleep. No matter how I tossed and turned I simply couldn't. I just... couldn't...<p>

A thought floated just at the edge of my subconscious. -_There a problem?-_

_Yeah_, I thought in response to my thoughts, _I can't sleep. Obvious much?_

_-You seem in need of help... of more than one kind...-_

I rolled over. _No I don't..._

The voice in my mind seemed to snort. _-I think you do. Lost in this place called 'Sinnoh'... with only the word of a strange teenage boy and GPS map to trust... and unable to sleep...-_

I turned again. _I can sleep... It'll come..._

_-Here... let me help you...-_

A black fog clouded the edges of my thoughts. _This isn't me..._ I thought. Instantly alert, I struggled to fight the fog.

_-So you finally figured... I'm not your head. You're going to sleep. My brother wants something conveyed to you, you know...-_

No. No more mind tricks...

_-Yes...-_

Never... I'd already had my memory erased once...

_-Yes. It won't hurt... you'll keep all your memories...-_

No!

_-Yes!-_

I struggled to stay awake, but the fog consumed my thoughts and I lost consciousness.

...

... Darkness...

... Plateau...

... Jagged teeth, reaching to the sky...

... Lizard-like eyes, staring at me...

... They disappeared...

... Pain...

... Roar...

... Time stopped...

... The land went grey...

... As far as I could see down from the mountain...

... A thought floated past...

... Help...

... Help it!

My eyes flicked open. Heart pounding, cold sweat on my face... I was scared.

I didn't get scared.

Rolling over to peer at the small digital clock next to the bed, its red digits glared 2:04am into my face. All just a dream... a freaky dream...

_-Hurry to Sandgem now... or the land will never move again...-_

...The voice! Still dreaming! I pinched myself, but nothing happened.

_-Hurry... corny as it is, Sinnoh depends on you... and your... friends...-_

Friends. Holiday. Rex.

_-Yes, those friends...-_

But where could they be...?

_-They are already at Sandgem Town. Tell them Giratina helped you – but I cannot help any more... goodbye...-_

I... knew... instantly what I had to do. Throwing back the small quilt, I donned my suit and sunglasses and rushed down the stairs with my hoverboard under one arm. No time to wait for morning.

Sneaking expertly out into the rocky city, I leapt onto the board and vanished into the inky night.

* * *

><p>Holiday's View<p>

In a torpor, my head rolled on the pillow to see the small clock with its luminescent hands pointing out 2:04am. As I did so, I heard the shuffling steps come from Rex's room down the hall towards the public bathrooms. I could hear him muttering "Darn... dreams... scary..."

I crawled out of bed and opened the door to whisper "Rex?"

A small "Yeah, Doc?" came in reply. I squinted in the darkness. "You okay?"

"I'm being plagued by nightmares..." he yawned.

_Where are you..._ I found his torso and pulled him into a hug. He happily hugged me back. "You'll be okay, Rex. They're just exaggerated dreams of a situation that you find scary..."

A muffled "Scientist..."reached my ears. I tightened the embrace for a moment before turning to walk into my own room.

"Doc..."

I turned. "Yes, Rex?"

"What's a Giratina?"

* * *

><p>Six's View<p>

I followed the roads through a mountain and down another Route before coming to a large city. It had a TV tower and major 'Training Academy' among other things. Turning left as the GPS indicated, I stuck to the shadows of the forest and headed directly south.

* * *

><p>Rex's View<p>

"Aw, c'mon Lucas! Can't I borrow one of your Pokémon so we can battle? _Please_?"

Lucas sighed and rubbed his temples. "For the last time Rex, _no_!"

I pouted and built the Smack Hands. "Then how about _I_ fight one of your Pokémon?"

"I think that's a pretty good idea!" exclaimed Dawn as she sauntered over to us across the field outside the lab. Lucas frowned. "No, Dawn. You saw what he can do. What if he could fly, or make giant feet to go with the hands?"

I built the Boogie Pack and Punk Busters at the same time. "C'mon, if Holiday's account of that Carnivine is anything to judge by, it shouldn't be too easy for me to beat." I pulled a cheesy grin at Lucas. He rolled his eyes. "How about you just use the fists? Pokémon are animals and they will bleed – but they can take incredible amounts of damage before they do – so don't use your sword... thing... okay?"

I quickly switched to the Smack Hands and nodded. "Good," Lucas asked, "What kind of Pokémon do you want to battle? I have quite a few."

I cocked my head to one side. "Something fast, strong and difficult. Very difficult."

Lucas unclipped an 'Ultra Ball' – brown with yellow stripes – from his belt. I could barely hear his muttered "Garchomp it is..."

Dawn's eyes flicked nervously to the Pokéball. "Lucas, you bred that for high stats from a Gible! You're not seriously..."

Lucas ignored her and tossed the metal sphere into the air. The plasmid light took shape into a seven-foot-tall dragon-like Pokémon. Leathery indigo skin stretched taut over a body streamlined, made for speed. Two elliptical blobs stuck out from the sides of its head, which had a permanent, toothy grin. Small spikes adorned thighs and biceps, and a long fin extended from each forearm, which ended in a single curved claw. Fins also were on its back and tail. Red and yellow covered its chest. If a shark had gone EVO and grown legs, this was what it would look like. It glanced around with predatory yellow eyes, blinked, and glanced at its trainer with a questioning expression on its face.

The trainer in question stared back up at it, maintaining eye contact. "Garchomp, you're going to be fighting Rex over there. He is a person, but he has... abilities. Fight him like you would a Pokémon – but whatever you do, _do not use Hyper Beam_. Do you understand?" The beast nodded in comprehension. "And I won't be instructing you – do it on your own, okay?"

Dipping its head in a final response, it turned to face me and sized me up. I could only do the same. Dawn and Lucas stepped back a few metres.

Suddenly, the Garchomp roared and rushed me, closing the few metres between us at a speed to rival Six. In a split second I swung forwards, but it rushed behind me, and I swung back around to hit in the side and fling it into a nearby tree. The tree shuddered and a few select leaves lazily made their way down to the earth, totally disregarding the pace of the fight.

The Garchomp shook its head and got to its feet growling.

"What's the matter, big guy – can't you make earthquakes? Grow trees?" I taunted. "Give me your best shot!"

Immediately, its whole body turned white. It tucked its arms into its body so the fins stuck out like wings and started closing the fifty-metre distance between us at a speed I didn't think possible for a cheetah. I formed the Shield Hands on instinct and braced against the impact – which forced me back twenty metres, if the furrows my shoes left in the soil were anything to judge by.

I locked eyes once more with the Garchomp.

Almost in slow motion, a long spike of refined steel spun through the air and embedded itself deep into the Pokémon's shoulder. My heart skipped a beat. I leapt to the falling Garchomp and flung my hands outwards, initiating the dome shield around us – not a split second too soon – to see the other thunderbolt-shaped sword ram into the shield and ricochet off. Its owner glared at me from behind shades. I returned the stare and slowly shook my head.

We trusted each other's judgement. Six stood back and nodded, allowing me to turn off the shield and kneel down beside the injured Garchomp. Disassembling the Shield Hands, I pulled my gloves off and eased the sword from its shoulder. It growled warningly, but kept still. I gently placed my hands on the wound area, which was oozing thick, dark blood, and directed about a third of my total nanites into its body to fix torn muscle tissue and tendons and a punctured lung.

Holiday told me later that as Dawn had frantically called her out, she had stepped into the field to be greeted with the sight of a Pokémon, half dead, criss-crossed with blue nanite lines at the mercy of an elite mercenary who was watching the said Pokémon so he could strike if it endangered his EVO charge, who was directing the blue lines to various points of injury on the creature.

When the nanites had healed the Pokémon to a point that the incident may have never happened, I recalled every single one of my nanites and rocked back onto my heels, utterly spent. With black closing in on the edge of my vision, I could just make out Holiday frantically explaining things to Six, Dawn and Lucas, and the Garchomp looking at me with a worried expression, before I lost consciousness.

* * *

><p>Six's View<p>

I'd been filled in on what I should and shouldn't have done and that that was a 'Pokémon' and not an EVO. Dawn had introduced me to a Professor Rowan, and I'd been given a room on the second floor. The Professor has sent Rex to the local Pokémon Center for a check-up, staying there just in case someone picked up on his EVO abilities.

Dawn had called us into the Professor's office, saying we needed to have a 'meeting of extreme importance'.

As Lucas sat down, I asked "You wanted to see us?"

He nodded. "Obviously something's happened to get you to Sinnoh from Earth. It was probably dimension travel on Palkia's behalf, but I have no idea why he would do it."

"Palkia?" Holiday was confused.

Dawn answered. "There are four major deities on Aera; Arceus, Dialga, Palkia and Giratina. I did a little bit of research into their origins and found that the latter three are Arceus' sons and daughter. They respectively control Time, Space and the Afterworld."

I raised an eyebrow at this. "How do you know they exist?"

Dawn made eye contact with me. "I've met them."

I caught Holiday's tiny flick of her eyes towards me. She didn't believe Dawn.

"So what do they look like?" she asked.

Lucas answered by pulling out a red handheld device. He input something, presumably the deities' names, and showed us the screen. The name of each one was displayed under a picture of the Pokémon, assuming they were Pokémon, and it switched after ten seconds to the next one in a slideshow. I studied the white, blue, pink and black beings and leaned back. Holiday studied them for a little longer, and I saw a flicker of fear and comprehension in her eyes. I'd ask her later – now wasn't the time.

Lucas stowed the device in his pocket and sighed. "Well..." he glanced at Dawn. "I'll confirm with Professor Rowan, but... I suppose..." Dawn's confusion changed to comprehension, then excitement.

"I suppose," Lucas continued, "Since you're here you're obviously here for a reason. I haven't the slightest clue what that reason is. But if you're going to survive here, you need a Pokémon."

* * *

><p>Dusk's View<p>

"Master, what are we doing at Lake Valor Cavern?"

I glanced at my Absol, Snowshadow. "You'll see, girl." I strode to the centre of the cavern and placed five Oran Berries, as was the ritual. I took five steps backwards to stand with my Pokémon and waited for the shimmers of azure that signified the arrival of Azelf, being of willpower.

* * *

><p><strong>Yes guys, next chapter they will get their Pokémon! Those 'Mon logically fit, and I have mentioned them before. *hint hint nudge nudge*<strong>** What's Dusk doing? ...Does anyone have ideas on what his party is? All will be revealed, grasshoppers! *shot* Sorry for the Month of No Updates, life seriously got in the way -_-;;**

**I hope this chapter was worth it!**

**~SK**


	10. Started

GR refs: Five (ep Divide by Six)

PMN refs: Arceus and the Jewel of Life

Chapter 10:

Rex's View

I opened my eyes.

Through sleep-drugged, fuzzy vision, I could make out I was back in my room at the Rebel Base. The flat-screen was there, Bobo's usual perch... I sighed. That Pokémon stint was all a bad dream... a _very_ bad dream.

I sighed and sat up in bed to stretch. Still waking up, I could see Bobo just sitting there. But why was he flickering...

He was on fire!

"AAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

My screams made Bobo scream and –

Oh god no, I was still in Sinnoh. I ducked to avoid the fireball and the flaming monkey dashed out of the room, expertly opening and closing the door.

My pulse took a few minutes to calm down. I was disappointed by my location, but I'd finally gotten to see a Fire-type Pokémon!

Taking a closer look at the 'flat-screen', it was actually a medical screen, showing my pulse, breath rate and other things. A nurse frantically opened the door to check on me. "Did something happen? Your pulse skyrocketed a moment ago and Lucas Nakamura's Monferno sprinted past." I could only assume she was talking my beret-wearing acquaintance.

"I startled the Pokémon, that's all." I reassured the nurse. She nodded her head, covered in hair a shade of pink to rival Five's, and left the room. I got up, pulled on my jacket, and left too, but ran into the Professor outside the door.

"Professor Rowan! Where –"

He explained "You're in the hospital section of the Pokémon Center, Rex. You healed Lucas' Garchomp, which is incredible enough on its own, but you've been unconscious for two days." I recoiled. Two days?

I must've said it out loud, because he crossed his arms. "Yes, that's what I said, and I've been paying for your accommodation since you and your _comrades_ don't seem to have any of our currency. Dawn and Lucas have also filled Agent Six in on the goings-on."

I nodded in thanks and followed him back to the lab. Halfway there, he smiled secretively.

A bright sun, hanging in a clear sky, shone crisp rays of sunlight onto the field where I'd fought the Garchomp a couple of days before. Holiday and Six were already waiting there, with Dawn and Lucas standing side-by-side with a briefcase sitting between them. The expressions on their faces could only be described as ecstatic.

Holiday rushed over and pulled me into a hug. I hugged her back and went to stand with her and Six in front of the two other teenagers. The Professor, now with his assistants, bent to pick up the briefcase and laid it on a small tree stump beside him.

Professor Rowan started speaking. "Rex. My assistants and I have spoken to Doctor Holiday and Agent Six while you were in the hospital and deciding that, with your current predicament, the best way to _survive_ out here would be if you –"

Dawn uttered a high-pitched squeak. Lucas gripped her hand and his eyes shot daggers at her, but they were sparkling with excitement, too. Holiday rolled her eyes.

"...As I was saying," the Professor continued, if you want to survive out here... you will need a Pokémon."

My jaw dropped. I ran the phrase through my head again, and did a quick airpunch to celebrate the truth behind the words. _We were going to get our own Pokémon!_

The professor opened the briefcase and handed two Pokéballs each to Dawn and Lucas, holding two himself. I almost missed his next words in my excitement. "My assistants and I could not find any of the usual starters – Turtwig, Piplup, and Chimchar – in the wild, so we had to choose those that we thought fit you instead."

"Don't you have the starters' 'evolutions'?" Six cut in.

Professor Rowan nodded. "That is entirely true. However, if we were to breed them, the resulting Pokémon would need to be hand-trained and not know any of the basic skills the mother would have taught them in the wild. Another, more crucial thing, is that these Stage 2 evolutions have been trained for high statistics, and the baby Pokémon would have much higher statistics than are normally found, anyway." I was barely listening now. "C'mon, c'mon, hurry up!" I muttered.

"Dawn thought it would be a 'brilliant joke' if she chose one for Doctor Holiday" – a nod in her direction – "but she covered it up by saying you'd need some sort of transportation anyway."

Stepping back, the Professor nodded to Dawn and Lucas, and they threw the Pokéballs into the air. The six bolts of plasmid light caused me to blink – that blink was enough time for the Pokémon to materialize.

I'd already spoken to Holiday about keeping my awkward nightmares a secret – and it was a good thing I did.

Standing in front of me was a somewhat humanoid red bug with oversized pincers, an extremely thin 'waist' and legs that ended in conical feet. Three spines extended up and back from its head. The other one was... very ugly. It was like a humanoid chicken thing with flame patterns across its belly and a tubular mouth that blew smoke with every breath. Its arms were covered in spiky frills and its tail had a flame on the end. _Is this a joke?_ I thought. _These things match me?_

In front of Holiday was a _brilliant_ joke. The blue loch ness monster lay on the ground, its shell covered in spikes. It curved its neck around to meet Holiday with grey-brown eyes. Holiday could only stare at the wave-like spirals that sat on the sides of its head, perfectly matching her bun. She leaned around the Pokémon and shot Dawn a look. Dawn grinned and pointed to the other one, which was a small cat. Its tail split into two at the end, and tufts of its mauve fur stuck out of its ears, which were huge. They were lined with a dark turquoise fur the same colour as its eyes – the pupils were white. A red gemstone sat on its forehead. It looked up at Holiday and purred.

Six was staring at his choices of Pokémon. There was a beautiful black bird, whose stomach was white and its face was red, its tail splitting off in two directions, like a swallow. Its eyes were sharp and it was practically having a staring contest with him. The other one was avoiding his gaze entirely. It was staring off to the side, its Spartan-like head blade curving down to its neck. Its arms and torso were green, and its white legs got wider – like a cone – until they reached the ground. Its ears were pointed. Red eyes focussed on nothing and everything.

The Professor gestured broadly to the Pokémon. "Rex. In front of you, you have the option between Scizor" – point to the bug – "and Magmar." Point to ugly. "Doctor Holiday, you have Lapras" – he glanced at Dawn – "and Espeon. Agent Six, you have the choices between Swellow and Gallade. Just stand there and pick one."

I glanced at the Magmar, which pouted, and then at the Scizor. I could've sworn its eyes lit up. "So, big bug dude. What can you do?"

_-I, the _big red bug_, can pretend I have three heads using my claws, bash stuff up with them, cut stuff up, kick stuff around, fly, and use moves like Flash Cannon, firing them from my claws.-_

Professor Rowan hurriedly added "They can all use telepathy because Espeon and Gallade are in the area – they are Psychic type, and any Pokémon near one may use telepathy with their –"

I didn't care. That bug was my Smack Hands, BFS, Punk Busters, Boogie Pack and Slam Cannon all rolled into one. I jabbed a finger at the Scizor. "Can I have that one?" I interrupted him. The Magmar actually looked relieved.

He cleared his throat. "Yes Rex, you may choose one. Take the Scizor." I reached out to knucklebump its claw. Its eyes smiled.

Holiday was actually faced with some indecision. She kept glancing from the Lapras to the Espeon. She finally reached out to touch the Lapras on the neck. It smiled, and so too the Espeon seemed to smile, like it was happy that she chose, but didn't mind that it wasn't chosen.

Six looked between his choices. He studied the bird, but glanced away, like he saw nothing other than the fact that it was a bird. His studies of the Gallade were a little more sceptical – but you wouldn't be able to tell if you didn't know him. I could tell that he was studying the tiny knobs on its elbows.

-_Take out your swords_.-

Six glanced at the Gallade's face. It was obvious that it had spoken... thought. He warily slid out the katanas and waited.

The Gallade took the three steps necessary to reach Six, and touched the blades, even though its head just cleared Six's chest. It stepped back and cocked its head to the side.

-_Think fast_.-

There was a shriek of metal on bone, and in the space of a second the Gallade had leapt up above Six's head, and was striking down onto the sword which had leapt up to defend. What was most incredible were its elbows – the knobs had extended into full blades! They were making direct eye contact - must have stayed like that, Gallade hovering, Six defending, for about three seconds – but it felt like three hours. Suddenly, the Gallade nodded and dropped to the ground. Its elbows magically shrank again, leaving only a memory of the event.

-_Congratulations, trainer._-

It held out a hand and Six shook it, very, very carefully. The only word for that was... unbelievable.

Professor Rowan, as stunned as all of us, gave us some time to familiarize ourselves with our Pokémon, and he, Dawn and Lucas retreated to the lab.

"Scizor," I enunciated. "Is that your –"

"No." I recoiled. It had spoken out loud! It tapped my shoulder with a clawed hand. "It's not my name, man. Slizer to you - we can speak normally. What your friends are hearing now is simply a repeated use of the word 'Scizor' coming from my mouth. They will hear you talking plain Uno – or, as I heard Doctor Holiday over there saying, 'English'. It's a thing we Pokémon have. Very useful." I nodded. "So, your name is?"

"I'm Rex." Quickly telling him about my builds, Slizer grinned. "That explains it. Mag didn't want to be your Pokémon anyway – she was quite relieved." She? It looked like a... she-_male_. Slizer laughed. "That's the best joke I've ever heard!"

I hadn't spoken yet.

He looped an arm around my shoulder. "See the Gallade over there with Six? He's called Tangent. Quite matches your numerical friend, neh? He's a Psychic Type. Like Professor Rowan tried to explain before you picked me just now, if a Psychic Pokémon is around, our thoughts get broadcast between trainer and Pokémon. We don't even need to talk aloud."

_Really?_ I thought.

_It's true_, Slizer 'broadcast'. My eyes widened. That confirmed it - telepathy did exist!

I glanced at Mag. "You sure you don't want to be my Pokémon?"

It nodded frantically and kind of slurred "I wanna be Doooooren's Pokémon." It took me a moment to figure out it meant Dawn. I nodded and let it leave - half-scuttle, half-shuffle back to its trainer.

"I find it easier to talk with you like this than telepathy," Slizer stated. "It's more natural." I agreed out loud. I looked at Holiday, who was exchanging words with the Lapras while the Espeon sat watching, its tail flicking lightly, looking content. Six was stuck in another staring contest with the Swellow. Tangent was watching indifferently on the side. Suddenly, Lucas dashed out and threw a Pokéball at the bird, which got sucked up in an instant. My mentor turned to face him, brows furrowed. Lucas held up his hands. "Uh... u-uh... That Swellow is really aggressive, and if you'd have broken eye contact with it, it would've run you through with a Drill Peck attack... uh... eh... Sorry..." He sprinted back inside. Six just looked confused and a little relieved. He suddenly turned to Tangent, who was no doubt using some kind of private telepathy with him. Six nodded and began walking back to me and Holiday.

The Lapras turned its calculating gaze on me. So did the Espeon, and I wondered why it was still there – and like it'd heard my thoughts (which it probably did) it silently got up and padded back to the building behind us, nudging its head against Holiday's leg as it passed her. Just like a normal cat. I stared back into the Lapras' eyes, and it actually pulled the corners of its mouth into a smile. Tangent nodded at me.

Holiday patted her Pokémon's neck. "She says her name's Lazuli. Like the stone." I introduced Slizer and almost on cue Professor Rowan sauntered over, minus his assistants. He was holding two Great Balls and an Ultra Ball.

"These are your Pokémon's capsules. They will lock onto the DNA of your Pokémon when thrown in their direction. Keep them –" The ground suddenly shook. I generated the Boogie Pack, but was instantly broken by... something. The tremors kept on as Professor Rowan ran back to the lab, Holiday and Six crouched on the ground. I tried to focus on something, but everything was out of focus. I felt trippy... Lighter... I was floating?

We were all roughly a metre off the ground, kept up by nothing except a pale blue haze surrounding our bodies. My eyes were drawn to the thickest haze around Tangent, and he seemed to be the one keeping us up.

I looked around at the landscape. Things were shaking. Everything seemed to get infinitesimally greyer and then more colourful with each second, as far as I could tell through the haze. Suddenly everything stopped and we were lowered to the ground. Holiday threw up and Six immediately put a hand on her shoulder, looking slightly worried. I couldn't blame her – I felt like hurling too.

Dawn and Lucas rushed out. Professor Rowan was not with them. They each frantically grabbed our wrists and started dragging us inside. Lazuli skirted around what previously was her new trainer's stomach contents to join Slizer and Tangent and follow us people inside.

Once we were seated (or slumped against the Lapras with an Alka-Seltzer) Lucas explained the quake.

"Dawn has obtained a special mechanism of sorts from an old acquaintance. It accurately measures the stability of Space, Time and Reality by picking up certain wavelengths from the four dimensions of Arceus, Dialga, Palkia and Giratina. We thought Dialga's Time wavelenths have been changing in the few days before your arrival until now, but they suddenly spiked and dropped. This would have caused certain side effects, like the minor 'earthquake'... and maybe..." he paused. "Maybe the land went grey a little."

That was _it_. Someone needed to explain why I was getting prophetic dreams. I could tell Six felt something by the way he suddenly stopped all natural twitching and was as still as a statue.

Holiday took another sip of her fizzing drink and swirled the cup around thoughtfully, as if searching for an answer in its transparent depths.

Dawn breathed in heavily through her nose. "I said before to you and you" – point to Holiday and Six – " that I think you were brought here for a reason. By Dialga, Palkia, Giratina – or all three. This seems to confirm it. You'll have to go to Mount Coronet and figure out why this is happening. I'm also afraid to say that Rex's jetpack won't be any use – the blizzard winds of over two hundred kilometres per hour are just going to completely obliterate you. People will react if they see the builds. Tangent can't teleport – you're going to have to make the journey on foot, just like any other trainer." I just. No. Way.

"On _foot_?" I cried.

Lucas nodded. "I'm afraid so, guys." He shrugged. "Stick to the Town Maps and you'll be fine."

Six crossed his arms. "I don't trust GPS."

Dawn crossed hers. "These systems have been perfected over twenty years and the maps are _always_ perfectly up to date."

I stood up with Slizer. "Then let's go!" I exclaimed.

Holiday drained the last of her fizzy Alka-Seltzer and frowned.

_-Surely it can't be that easy...-_ I heard Tangent think.

Slizer bro-fisted the Psychic's shoulder. "Heck no bud, it'll be fine! Right, Rex?"

I nodded. "Yeah, It'll definitely be fine!"

Boy, was I wrong.

**Sorry about the wait! THE PLOT THICKENS! Yay! I'm making an animation for NF, believe it or not – and it's homework, which means it takes precedence to the actual story. X_X I'll also be editing the first three chapters in the next few days, in preparation for the assignment's 'story board' in case I don't have the animation ready. (I should do, it's a JIC thing ^_^) Hope you're enjoying so far!**

**~SK**


	11. Wild

**Don't even **_**think**_** about asking why I went on a sudden, unexplained fourteen week hiatus. I had chronic writer's block and a truckload of homework, and this and that and BLAH BLAH BLAH. (It was mostly writer's block in the holidays ) Please, please, **_**please**_** tell me the fight scene is better than the dialogue moments. I work better on fight scenes. :) And... there's a little bit of **_**Holix**_** in here... :3**

**My brother just informed me that a Lego Space Police character is called Slizer. Therefore, a small disclaimer: I don't own Slizer or any part of Lego! This was a coincidence; Nanite Free's Scizor, however, is mine and Lego really doesn't have to go about suing me.**

Feedback on how in-character the GR bunch is would be greatly appreciated! (Although, I've noticed that they all talk like teenagers - even Six - so bluh x_x)

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><p>Chapter 11: Wild<p>

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><p>Holiday's View<p>

Professor Rowan attempted to alleviate the awkward silence with a couple of Pokedexes. Handing one to each of us, he explained the electronic encyclopedia could scan DNA of almost every known Pokémon, track your Pokémon's energy levels in a battle and simply provide ID for the trainer so they could both heal their Pokémon and get one night's accommodation free at one of the various Centers situated around Sinnoh.

I noticed Dawn and Lucas sneak out, but I didn't say anything.

"... This identification is vital. If you are caught with a Pokémon but without some sort of license, your Pokémon will be kept in storage and you _will_ be fined P500 a day until you get a license. However – a record is kept of every trainer, so if you lose it, you'll get another one for P50."

"But, what if someone breaks it?" Rex asked.

"Siz-Scizor-ror," Slizer smirked, as much as an insect could smirk. Rex snorted.

The Professor looked around and frowned. "Did any of you see where Dawn and Lucas went?"

I motioned that I had. "They just snuck out."

Professor Rowan rolled his eyes. Right then, they returned and slunk into their seats. The Professor berated them for a moment, but let it go. Dawn stood up. "We ran to the Pokémart a moment ago because obviously you guys need supplies."

We turned our heads.

"We got you each three Potions, five Pokéballs, two Paralyze Heals and two Antidotes," Lucas continued. "The extreme basics if you want to be a trainer. Of course, there's also one basic survival kit for each of you and one... _very small_ tent."

"How small is _very small_?" Six interjected.

Dawn stepped back. "The right size for... two people."

Rex supressed laughter to the point of having a red face. I looked questioningly at him... then when the gravity of his snickering hit, I glared. So did Six. Slizer punched him in the back.

Rex stopped snickering. "Sorry, sorry..."

We packed our various items into small capsules that worked on the same principle as Pokéballs, and then easily packed them into our three separate bags, Six not looking too happy with a backpack.

Rex shouldered his pack and stood up, Slizer moving a bit to accommodate room. "So, when are we going?" he chirped.

"Night," Six answered, packing the final things into his bag, "Night's the best time to move because you're hidden." He zipped the bag shut, finalizing the statement.

Rex dumped his bag onto the floor and groaned. "It's the middle of the day!"

"Then familiarise yourself with Slizer." Six smoothly countered.

Rex slumped back into the seat and groaned. Professor Rowan smirked under his walrus-like beard. "It would definitely be a good idea to familiarise yourself. You might be spending more than three weeks with your Pokémon, and it wouldn't be a very good idea to know nothing about them, hm?"

I patted Lazuli's neck. "What's it like to be a Pokémon?" I asked.

Lazuli purred. _It's incredible to be one with the ocean, and wield ice and water with ease. But other than that, I do not know, for I have never been a human._

"Really?" I answered. "Where we come from, there is the risk, every single day, of someone you love mutating into a monster because of..." I just sent ideas of the Nanite Event so the Lapras could understand.

Her mind shied away. _That's horrible,_ she whisper-thought.

Someone _else's _mind pressed on mine. I gripped my head as a headache began throbbing. _Sorry_, Tangent said, _but what if we battle each other and see how you shape up as trainers and we as your partners?_

Rex leapt up. "I feel like you just ripped my brain to shreds, but yes!" he exclaimed. "C'mon, Slizer!" Rex ran out the door, his Pokémon following a few steps behind.

Lucas stood up. "That's a good idea. I'll supervise." He walked away. "Come on, you four," he said, gesturing broadly to me, Six and our Pokémon.

**~xXx~**

I sat in the crook of Lazuli's neck as Rex and Six stood opposite each other roughly twenty metres apart in the field outside, Pokéballs in hand. Lucas stood to the center side, next to me, red flag in his left hand and a blue flag in his right.

"This battle shall take place between Rex-" he held the red flag upwards "-and Agent Six." Lucas held the blue flag upwards. "Each contestant is allowed one Pokémon. The fight shall last until one side is unable to battle." He lowered the flags. "Formalities over, you two remember to work with your Pokémon and help them. This is as much your fight as theirs, even if you're not getting battered yourself. Their elemental moves will show up in the Pokedex, but they can still use physical strength." Lucas thrust the flags skywards. "Begin!"

Rex whooped and flung his Pokéball forwards and up, just as Six silently did the same. Both capsules bust open, emptied their plasma contents outwards, and got propelled backwards by the energy they released. Slizer snapped his claws. Tangent didn't move. Both males flicked the Pokedexes open.

Rex pointed at the Gallade almost overenthusiastically, shouting "Slizer, use Flash Cannon!"

Silver energy charged within the bug's claws. In one quick movement, it pointed and fired a beam of white light energy at the Gallade, which smoothly dodged, paused, and ran forwards, arms glowing black. Without a sound from Six, it suddenly slid underneath Slizer's legs, and even as the bug began to turn around it leapt up and struck between the wings. The bug stumbled.

"Blow him away, then Metal Claw!" Rex exclaimed. Slizer responded immediately, buzzing its wings, knocking the Psychic back with a buffet of wind and slicing down with both open claws, grating on the bone arm extensions and coming down to cut Tangent's leg. The psychic cried out. Six's eyebrow twitched. The Gallade's eyes turned blue.

Slizer glowed the same colour and lifted into the sky. Its eyes filled with panic. "Sciz-z-z-z-z-"

Rex furrowed his brows from where I could see. "Slizer, use Flash Cannon to the –"

Slizer's eyes widened in understanding and the Pokemon abruptly dropped earthwards as the psychic levitation ceased.

_Ah, to slow the fall_, Lazuli thought.

The bug fired the shots down. They impacted with the earth, slowed its fall and digging two shallow holes of compacted dirt. Tangent ran forwards, jumped up and silently aimed a kick at the bug's head. It connected and knocked Slizer to the ground. Slizer rolled over and kicked back with equal vigor.

Tangent's arms glowed black again and he sliced at the incoming leg, blocking and rebuffing it. Slizer flipped backwards.

"Slizer! Aerial Ace!" Rex called. The bug did just that, flying up a little way and spinning on the way to the ground, slashing at Tangent with claws and feet on the way down, swerving around, and slashing again. Tangent was thrown back and landed on its back, back red cartilage fin twisting. It hissed.

"Take that, Six! _Super effective_!" Rex gloated.

The Gallade rose to its feet, paused for a millisecond and rushed forwards under Six's silent command, connecting a simple punch to Slizer's chest.

Slizer blinked.

Rex blinked. "Is that all, Six?" he called.

Tangent twisted his fist in place. Pale yellow energy instantly carried out of Slizer's torso and down to surround Tangent. Most of it sunk into the gash on its leg and started healing it into a long scar.

"Drain Punch," Six said with a hint of smugness, his first words of the fight.

Rex showed small signs of panic. "Slizer, break away and use Metal Claw again!"

Slizer swayed, but didn't follow Rex's command.

"S-Slizer...?" Rex stuttered.

The energy flow stopped and Tangent bounded away. Slizer teetered backwards and slammed to the dirt, unconscious.

"Slizer is unable to battle," Lucas called, raising the blue flag and nearly poking Lazuli in the eye. "Agent Six wins!"

Tangent slunk back to its trainer, expression matching Six's usual smug one. Rex ran forwards and pulled a Potion out of his backpack. "Lucas, what do I do with it?"

Lucas dropped the flags to the ground walked to Rex, showing him how to target the worst areas and spray. Slizer's wounds began folding and binding themselves back together like how Tangent's leg did, similar to the way some EVOs had regeneration abilities.

I slid off Lazuli's back and walked over to Six. "Impressive fighting there, _trainer_," I teased.

He raised an eyebrow. "You need to _battle_ with Lazuli."

I shrugged. "Sure. It's not like I won't hold my ground..." I twisted around and looked at the Lapras. She rolled her eyes and breathed frigid air onto the grass, putting a thin layer of ice over it, using the smooth surface to push along the ground towards us.

He frowned. "Stop that."

I poked his shoulder and smirked. "Stop what?"

"You know exactly what I mean, Holiday."

"But I _don't_," I protested, sidling close to him.

Lazuli snorted. Tangent smirked.

Six gently pushed me away. "Stop flirting."

"I'm not flirting..." I said, putting on an innocent expression.

Six frowned again. "Whatever you're doing, stop it."

I touched my fingertip to his as I walked away. _Flirt flirt_, Lazuli thought in a sing-song voice.

_Exactly~!_ I thought back.

**~xXx~**

At eight in the evening and after seven rematches with Six that Rex always lost – however narrowly - the sun had finally sunk under the horizon. We called back our Pokémon into their Pokéballs and thanked Professor Rowan, Dawn and Lucas for their troubles. The Professor waved away the thanks. "Dawn has seen more of the Deities than many will ever see in their imaginations. Not need to thank us, just go and find what's wrong and save the world if necessary."

We said out goodbyes, got the Professor's work number so we could call him from a 'Pokegear' – phone type device – that Dawn handed us at the last minute and we set off towards Route 202, climbing up the hilly slopes.

"Siiiiix!" Rex whined. "I demand another rematch tomorrow!"

"No," Six huffed, "our Pokémon need to rest."

"You're always getting out of these kind of things!"

"No I'm not," Six countered. "Be quiet."

I smiled and looked through the trees. The Professor had warned us about Wild Pokémon, willing to defend their territory in a very animalistic, albeit elemental manner – attacking passers-by without pause, often with said elemental moves. "When – or where – are we supposed to camp?" I asked, flipping out the Town Map. "If we make it to Jubilife we could stay a night at the Center."

Rex twisted around. "I heard something," he muttered, hand moving to Slizer's Pokeball. "From the trees, low down."

Six and I turned around as well.

There was silence.

A shape sprung from the trees. We ducked out of the way, and a blinding white flash lit up the surrounding area, burning a four-legged shape into my eyelids. I felt around for a tree to lean on and instead bumped into Six, hands against his chest. I felt my face flush and leaned on him shoulder-to-shoulder instead.

"Can't see! The _light_! The _agony_!" Rex complained, walking into something with an audible thud. "_Ow!_"

Six moved his hand up to rub his eyelids. I blinked a few times.

I began to see their silhouettes clearly, and looked around for the source of the flash. A little four-legged shape with glowing, but slowly dimming golden ankles revealed itself to me.

"Shhh-rrow?" it asked in a fighting stance.

Rex turned to the noise, dug into his jacket pocket and pulled out his Pokedex. "Let's see what you are, now!" he said, peering at the screen.

"SHINX. _FELIX PHOTUS_. THE FLASH POKÉMON. ELECTRIC TYPE. ALL OF ITS FUR SPARKS IF DANGER IS SENSED. IT FLEES WHILE THE FOE IS BLINDED. ITS ANKLES HAVE ELECTRICITY POUCHES, WHICH GENERATE THE POWER ON DEMAND. EVOLVES TO LUXIO, THEN LUXRAY."

Rex flipped the thing shut. "Sounds fun. _Catch_ you later, little guy," he said, saluting it with a flick of the wrist and stepping forwards to shoo it away. The 'Felix photus' hissed, turned tail and fled.

I stepped away from Six. "Our first _taste_ of wild Pokémon," I announced. "Won't this be fun, these little cats blinding us every three steps we take."

I heard the scrape of one of Six's magna blades returning to his sleeve. "_Fun_ is not the word I'd use," he said humorlessly.

"Party pooper!" Rex laughed, walking ahead. "Last one to Jubilife has to... um... play chess with Tangent!"

I could almost feel Six roll his eyes.

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><p><strong>AWW YEAH! I'm going to be uploading once OR twice a week from now on! Cross my heart!<strong>

**SOMEONE GIVE ME FEEDBACK! LOTS OF IT!**

**Reviews are love and shalt reveal Dusk's plot!**

**Flames hurt Slizer!**

**Peace out!**


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